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THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 



THE VALLEY 
CAMPAIGNS 

Being the Reminiscences of a N on-Combat- 
ant While Between the Lines in the 
Shenandoah Valley During 
the War of the States 



By 

THOMAS A. ASHBY, M.D., LL.D. 

Author of "Life of Turner Ashby," Published by 
This House, and of other books 




NEW YORK 
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1914 



■5 
.AS 



Copyright, 1914, by 
The Neale Publishing Company 



MA?- '-5 1914 



Cl.A369n5 3 



To 
THE HOME GUARD OF THE SOUTH 
Who bore the anxieties, the sorrows, and 
the privations of war with courage and 
cheerfnhiess, and who tilled the 
soil and raised the crops that 
supported the Southern ar- 
mies in the field ; and 

To 
THE FAITHFUL NEGRO SERVANTS 
Who remained loyal to their masters dur- 
ing the war this book is dedicated. 



PREFACE 

In this book the author has attempted to tell a 
story of the Civil War as related by one who was 
an eye-witness of the facts. The story is told 
from the standpoint of a boy, who here gives ob- 
servations and relates experiences that are not 
usually recounted by the historian. 

The incidents connected with the story are lo- 
cated almost entirely in the Valley of Virginia, — 
a region that was a picturesque and important 
theater of military operations during the four years 
of strife, and that suffered as much from the effects 
of the war as any section of the South. The trials, 
sufferings, and privations of the people who re- 
mained at home and were non-combatants are 
presented in this chronicle as frankly and as truth- 
fully as possible; for the author has tried to be 
correct in every statement that he has made, and 
just in every opinion he has expressed and in every 
criticism he has advanced. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Preface 7 

I The Institution of Slavery . . 11 

II The John Brown Insurrection and 

Its Effects 17 

III Virginia Secedes. The War Begins 24 

IV General Turner Ashby .... 32 

V An Interesting Correspondence. 

Hospitals in Our V^illage . . 53 

VI Visit to Manassas. In Winter 

Quarters 61 

VII Federal Invasion of the Shenan- 
doah Valley. Battle of Kerns- 
town. Stormy Days .... 70 

VIII Federal Troops in the Village. 

The Spirit of the South ... 78 

IX The Southern Woman. The Do- 
mestic Life of Our People . . 95 

X The Valley Campaign. Under 

Fire 1 1 1 

XI Within the Federal Lines. The 

Battle of Port Republic . . .127 

XII Feder-al Officers in My Home . . 143 

XIII Success of the Army of Northern 

Virginia 153 

XIV Events in Our Village in the Sum- 

mer OF '62 165 



CONTENTS 



XV Stonewall Jackson and the Mary- 
land Campaign 176 

XVI Fall and Winter of 1862 . . .185 

XVII Winter Pleasures and Dangers . 196 

XVIII Boyish Sports. Visit to Richmond 206 

XIX Comparative Study of Some of the 
Leaders of the '6o's. The Con- 
federate POLICYAND THE FEDERAL 217 

XX The Spring and Summer of 1863 . 227 

XXI The Gettysburg Campaign . . . 240 

XXII The Fall and Winter of 1863 . . 254 

XXIII Rosser's Ride Around Meade's Army 263 

XXIV The Military Operations of 1864 . 275 
XXV MosBY and His Men 288 

XXVI The Spring of 1865 — The Surrender 301 

XXVII The Old Family Servant . . . 309 

XXVIII Rebuilding the Waste Places . .314 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 
CHAPTER I 

THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY 

From Colonial days to the American Revolution 
and from the Revolution to the middle of the nine- 
teenth century the Southern States had grown in 
wealth, population, and civic pride. A civiliza- 
tion of rare culture and refinement represented the 
high spirit and virtue of the Anglo-Saxon race in 
the South. One of the foundation stones upon 
which this civilization rested was the institution 
of slavery, — an institution that began with the 
Colonies and was recognized by the Constitution 
that was established by the union of the States 
under the Federal Government. 

To the people of my generation in the South 
the ownership of slaves was an inheritance, rep- 
resenting an investment in dollars and cents, — a 
property interest as necessary and valuable to its 
possessor as bonds and stocks. The slaveowner 
was, therefore, no more responsible for this char- 
acter of property, if it came to him through in- 
heritance, than for any other form of inheritance, 



12 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

— indeed, no more responsible than he was for the 
shape of his head or color of his hair. The owner- 
ship of slaves involved, as a general rule, as little 
discomfort as the ownership of domestic animals; 
and the owner of slaves was consciously no more 
unkind to these human beings than he was to his 
horse and dog, which he often valued with a strong 
affection. 

My childhood recollection of the negro slave is 
associated with many happy incidents, and my re- 
lations to him were most cordial and affectionate. 
With the young negroes of my age I often played 
and romped; I often worked with them in their 
easy duties around my home, and at all times 
found them companionable and respectful. There 
was a courtesy and kindness between us which was 
never abused. Negroes owned by the well-to-do 
and cultured classes of people were, as a rule, 
handed down by inheritance from parents to chil- 
dren through succeeding generations; and thus, 
through their long line of connection with these 
old families, they enjoyed better training in do- 
mestic service and were more intelligent and moral 
than the average negro of the present time. 

The good and bad influences that surrounded 
the slave were more fully illustrated by the char- 
acter of the owner than by the slave's own disposi- 
tion. In his natural temperament the negro is 
usually a happy, indolent, and frivolous character, 



THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY 13 

fond of his ease, his pleasures, and his appetites. 
He is easih' influenced to do good and as easily 
led astray by bad associations. He responds 
readily to kind and generous treatment, and rebels 
with sullen and concealed passion against unkind 
and harsh authority, and his resentment is often 
expressed with violence; hence it was that the 
slave was alienated from his master, and the mas- 
ter became unjust and unkind to his slave. 

Where slaves were owned in large numbers by 
one individual his rights were often disregarded. 
He was dealt with as a piece of personal property 
not much better than the live stock on the planta- 
tion. It was this condition that brought odium 
upon the institution of slavery. All human rights 
were imperiled by a system that regarded human 
flesh as an article of barter and trade, — a system 
that degraded the manhood and humanity of both 
master and slave. The people who viewed slav- 
ery from the distance, who knew but little of its 
humane and civilizing influences over the negro as 
a race, took isolated and unusual examples for uni- 
versal conditions. 

In the violence of prejudice and emotion, manu- 
factured by false evidence, the people of the North 
arraigned the slaveowner as an inhuman tyrant. 
Totally disregarding his property interests, his con- 
stitutional rights, and his just desire to free slavery 
of its worst forms of servitude, the remote, unin- 



14 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

formed Northerner held up the slaveowner before 
the civilized world as the enemy of a lowly and 
servile race. No credit was given him for the 
service he was rendering the negro race through 
the gradual influences of civilization. The world 
forgot that the negro had been introduced into 
this country in a semicivilized or barbarous condi- 
tion. Uncultured and unskilled, ignorant both of 
human and divine law, a victim of the lowest 
forms of superstition, vice, and evil passion, the 
negro had, by the institution of slavery, — despite 
all its bad features, — been raised to a plane of 
usefulness, of domestic service, and of happy con- 
tentment unknown to him in his natural home. 

The negro under slavery was far from being un- 
happy and discontented. He was, to the contrary, 
free from care and responsibility. He was well 
fed, well clothed, well cared for in sickness and 
in old age. His hardships were usually of his own 
making, brought on by vice and intemperance, or 
by his bad temper and unruly disposition. He 
had it in his power to win the confidence and es- 
teem of his master without absolute servitude or 
humiliation of spirit. The pride of the negro 
under slavery was no more debased than that of 
the child under parental authority. Children 
have been held in bondage by their parents, and 
negroes have been treated with cruelty by their 
masters, as have prisoners of war and inmates of 



THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY 15 

penal institutions. The ill-treated slave, how- 
ever, was the exception and not the rule among 
civilized people. The abuses of slavery were 
greatly exaggerated by persons who would not 
see its humane and civilizing influences. Whether 
the negro in this country has been made better 
or worse by his emancipation time must show. 
Had the negro been left in Africa he would have 
been on a level with his race in that country to- 
day. There, centuries of isolation have left him 
a barbarian. Even under the influence of civili- 
zation he has developed neither originality nor 
constructive ability. His administrative talents 
are of a very low order, hence he has never been 
able to exercise authority with discretion or skill. 
Nature has granted him one preeminent gift. He 
is fitted for domestic service, in which field of use- 
fulness he has become a most efficient and faithful 
servant.^ 

Now when it is borne in mind that the re- 
sponsibility for the introduction of slavery into 
this country lay as much with the people of the 
North as with the people of the South, and that 
the North had prospered as much by the importa- 
tion and sale of the negro to the slaveowner as 

^ The author admits that the idea of ownership of human 
beings is opposed by the better instincts of our humanity. It 
was this sentiment that led to the overthrow of an institution 
that did much to civilize and improve a race so low in the scale 
as to be classed as barbarians. 



i6 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the owner had prospered by the negro's service 
as a laborer in the house and in the field, it can 
be fully understood how resentment and passion 
had been kindled in the mind of the slaveowning 
class against the antislavery agitator in the North. 
A controversy, beginning almost with the for- 
mation of the Federal Union, had grown from 
decade to decade, with increasing violence. Sec- 
tion had been arrayed against section, until a 
divided Union was threatened from year to year. 
It was becoming more and more apparent that the 
nation could not exist half slave and half free. 
The question was whether slavery should be abol- 
ished or the nation be split asunder. The solu- 
tion of so grave a question could be determined 
in only one way. When reason ceases to guide 
the minds and hearts of a people anarchy is the 
result, — anarchy, in open protest against un- 
righteous and dangerous authority. 



CHAPTER II 

THE JOHN BROWN INSURRECTION AND ITS 
EFFECTS 

My recollections of my early school da}S are 
crowded with many incidents of historic interest. 
It was when I was about eleven years old that the 
John Brown Insurrection at Harper's Ferr\' took 
place. As our village — Front Royal — was less 
than fifty miles distant from the seat of the insur- 
rection our people were thrown into a state of 
great excitement. The attempt made by John 
Brown to arouse the negro and create race an- 
tagonism \^as regarded as a cruel, premeditated 
assault upon the institution of slavery, — an as- 
sault supported by an antislavery sentiment in 
the North. John Brown and his few associates 
were regarded as weak and deluded fanatics, 
harmless in tliemsclves, but representatives of a 
sect that would stop at no act short of govern- 
mental interference. Their whole purpose was 
regarded by our people as the first step in the 
direction of an armed assault upon slavery, as a 
violation of Constitutional rights, and a cruel 
manoeuver to create distrust and animosity in the 
mind of the negro toward his master. 



i8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The effect of the John Brown Insurrection is a 
matter of history. It is not necessary here to re- 
late the results that in a few years followed the 
Harper's Ferry incident. I wish to show in a 
brief way the influence it had over the negroes of 
our community and over the minds of our people. 
I venture to assert that the institution of slavery, 
as it existed in our section of Virginia, was based 
upon as high moral and ethical standards as were 
possible in a slaveowning community. 

Our negro population was about one-half as 
large as our white population. The negroes were 
owned largely by our wealthiest and best people. 
The relations between master and servant were, 
as a rule, most friendly and cordial. The servant 
was most obedient and respectful to his master 
and yielded an affectionate and loyal obedience, 
simple, childlike, and faithful, while the master's 
regard for the servant was kind, thoughtful, and 
often parental. His interest in the slave was not 
so much one of property as of guardianship and 
responsibility. The negro had come to him by 
inheritance, — had been handed down from parent 
to child for some three or four generations, and 
there had grown up around this birthright 
a feeling of growing anxiety and concern for 
the negro which invested slaveownership with 
high moral considerations and conscientious con- 
victions. There was an undercurrent of anti- 



JOHN BROWN INSURRECTION 19 

slavery sentiment among our slaveowners that 
would have had a wide expression, if a doorway 
could have been opened for a gradual emancipa- 
tion. The interests of the slave, his equipment 
for the right of freedom, his moral and civil posi- 
tion in a slaveowning community, all called for 
the most careful thought and consideration. It 
seemed that neither the time nor the conditions 
were favorable for a general emancipation, even 
in our community, and far less so in other com- 
munities, where the negro population was large, 
where the intelligence of the negro was low, and 
where large industrial interests were involved. 
With these general views our people rested under 
a deep sense of responsibility; and they felt that 
it devolved upon them to adjust a domestic situa- 
tion and a Constitutional right, without coercion 
from a section of the country that had no prac- 
tical experience with slavery, understood none of 
the conditions involved in the ownership of the 
negro, and the people of which were moved by 
fanaticism and political interests in their attempts 
to destroy the institution. 

It was but natural that a people whose moral 
and legal rights were assailed, should have been 
aroused to a high sense of indignation by the John 
Brown Insurrection. The effect was immediate. 
The slaveowner became resentful and grew deter- 
mined in his efforts to resist the wrongs that he 



20 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

felt were being heaped on him. He resolved to 
defend his Constitutional rights with blood and 
treasure, if necessary. The spirit of rebellion and 
of secession had their origin in these passions that 
were kindled in every Southern heart. 

The effect of the Brown Insurrection upon the 
negroes of our community was but transient. A 
few slaves were moved by the hope of freedom to 
become restless and turbulent. In a few instances 
there was a slight degree of insubordination. The 
worst effect, however, was a feeling of distrust 
that arose between master and slave, weakening 
the warm attachment that had previously existed. 
When the master began to doubt the loyalty of his 
slave and the slave began to doubt the kindness 
and confidence of his master a mutual distrust 
began to express itself. I can recall but one or 
two open expressions of this distrust, and they 
were of a trivial character. A few of the more 
restless of the younger negroes showed a disposi- 
tion to leave their homes after night and to meet 
in unfrequented places where, not infrequenth', 
they drank and gambled. 

To break up this growing habit of meeting, the 
young white men of our neighborhood organized 
a patrol, and at night they visited different places 
where watches were kept. After the arrest of a 
few negroes who were away from home without 



JOHN BROWN INSURRECTION 21 

permission, the negroes soon gave up their night 
wanderings and remained at home. 

The excitement growing out of the John Brown 
incident soon subsided; but the effect upon our 
people was made evident in other directions. In 
our community it was generally believed that 
the Brown Insurrection was the beginning of more 
serious political complications, — that secession and 
civil war would soon be the hnal solution of the 
conditions that confronted the slaveowning States. 

The principal of the school I attended had re- 
ceived a military education, and soon after the 
John Brown affair he organized a military com- 
pany made up of the young men of the county. 
An armory was secured, and arms and uniforms 
were provided for the members. Regular drills 
were held once or twice a week until the company 
soon became well organized and drilled. These 
young men and boys of sixteen years of age were 
being prepared in the lessons of school and in 
training for military service. We will see that 
within a year or two they were enlisted in the 
army of the Confederacy and not a few of them 
gave up their lives in the service of their State. 

These days at school were exciting times for a 
bo)' of my age, though I was too young to realize 
the signs of the times and the results that would 
soon influence my future life. 



22 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The disturbances growing out of the John 
Brown affair had scarcely subsided before the can- 
vass for the Presidential contest was begun. The 
three political parties, — Democratic, Whig, and 
Republican, — soon met in convention and nomi- 
nated their respective leaders. The Democratic 
party, split in twain, had two sets of candidates 
in the field, — Breckinridge and Lane, and Douglas 
and Johnson, — representing the two factions. 
Bell and Everit were the nominees of the Whig 
party, and Lincoln and Hamlin were the nominees 
of the new Republican party. 

Since the Republican party was the avowed 
enemy of slavery, it was regarded by our people 
with great alarm and hatred. 

The political contest in our section narrowed 
down to the two factions, — Breckinridge and 
Lane, and Bell and Everit. My county was 
largely Democratic, and the sentiment ran strong 
for that ticket. This sentiment in our school was 
shown by the number of Democratic badges worn 
by the boys and a few of the girls. There were 
a few Whig badges worn by the pupils, one 
Douglas and Johnson badge, but there was not a 
single representative of the Republican ticket. 

The excitement ran high until the results of the 
election were made known. When the election of 
the Republican candidate was announced our peo- 
ple were seized with anxiety and alarm. It was 



JOHN BROWN INSURRECTION 23 

openly predicted that secession and civil war were 
inevitable. The political leaders and men of in- 
fluence in our county at once determined to pre- 
pare for the struggle. The military company, 
previously referred to, began to enlist new mem- 
bers, to get new uniforms and arms, to hold drills 
and to make every preparation for an active serv- 
ice when it should be called out. 



CHAPTER III 

VIRGINIA SKCr.DF.S. THE WAR BEGINS 

Several months passed before Lincoln and Ham- 
lin were inaugurated. During that time the po- 
litical feeling was intense. Candidates were 
brought out for election to a State convention, 
which was to decide upon the question of the se- 
cession of V'irginia from the Federal Government. 
South Carolina and other cotton States had al- 
ready withdrawn from the Union, and the Con- 
federate Government had been organized, with 
Mr. Davis as President. The people of \'irginia 
hesitated, deliberating long upon a line of action 
that would separate her from the Union. My 
county had elected to the convention a candidate 
who was committed to secession. In the contest 
between the two candidates for and against seces- 
sion, the anti-secession candidate received only two 
votes, — votes cast by two of our oldest and most 
respected citizens, men of high intelligence and un- 
doubted patriotism, who held that Virginia should 
maintain a neutral position and endeavor to check 
the extreme views held by the North and the 
South. 

This doctrine was soon found to be imprac- 
24 



VIRGINIA SFXEDES 25 

ticable; for when Mr. Lincoln called upon the 
States for troops to suppress the States that had 
seceded from the Union, Virginia cast her lot with 
her sister slave States and by vote in conven- 
tion withdrew from the Union. This act at once 
put the State upon the defensive and tlie Civil 
War was inaugurated. 

At that time our village had no communication 
by wire with the outside world and the announce- 
ment of the action of the convention did not 
reach our community until early in the morning 
of the following day. The message was brought 
by a locomotive that reached the village before 
sunrise. Well do I remember the long and plain- 
tive whistle of the engine as it roused us from 
slumber, stirring alarm in every breast. Its ap- 
proach to the village at this unusual hour was an 
admonition of the message it bore, — a message 
from the Governor of Virginia announcing the se- 
cession of the State and ordering the captain of 
the military company to assemble his men with 
utmost rapidity and proceed at once to Harper's 
Ferry. Messages were sent out to the homes of 
the members of the company to meet in the vil- 
lage for immediate service. By ten o'clock all the 
men, armed and in uniform, were ready to march 
to the seat of war. Wagons, carriages, and other 
vehicles were got together to carry these boys to 
the front at Harper's Ferry, the objective point of 



26 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

military operations. This place was selected as 
it was located on the northern border of the State 
line and contained a large arsenal and military 
stores belonging to the Federal Government. 

The assembling of the company, the preparation 
for leaving home, and the parting with friends and 
loved ones made a scene which can never be for- 
gotten by those who witnessed it. Many of the 
boys were in high glee, for they regarded the in- 
cident as a mere outing for pleasure. Very few 
realized that some of them were leaving home for 
the last time and were entering upon a war which 
would try men's souls, bring infinite sorrow to 
their dear ones, and disaster on themselves. 

In the company that left our village on the 
morning of April 20, 1861, were ten of my school- 
mates, ranging in age from 16 to 20 years. With 
drum and fife to inspire them, they formed in 
ranks and marched in column to the suburbs. 

Our older citizens, especially those who had 
sons and relatives in the company, took a more 
gloomy view of the situation; but few realized 
that a war of subjugation was being inaugurated 
by the Federal Government, and that the entire 
South would become the seat of a civil war which 
would have few parallels in the history of modern 
times. 

Our people were animated by hope, courage, 
and patriotism, and they resolved in the beginning 



VIRGINIA SECEDES 27 

of the struggle to expend every resource in the 
defense of their institutions and liberties. There 
was no hesitation in this resolution. They rose 
en masse to meet a situation that confronted them, 
and, fired with zeal, they willingly submitted their 
cause to the God of battle. 

These were exciting times that tested to the ut- 
most the spirit of heroism and fortitude. No peo- 
ple ever entered upon a civil war with greater con- 
fidence. It was believed that it would be a war 
of invasion and of attempted subjugation, that 
every resource of the Federal Government would 
be used to destroy the institution of slavery, and 
to force the seceding States back into the Union. 
Our people fully realized they were outnumbered 
as to men and greatly overbalanced as to resources, 
but they relied upon the justice of their cause and 
upon the courage and patriotism of the entire 
South to make up for the odds against them. 

As Virginia was a border State between the 
North and the South it was evident that her terri- 
tory would become the first seat of military opera- 
tions and that the lines of attack and defense 
would be drawn along her northern borders. 
Troops were therefore sent to the front as soon 
as they could be mustered in. The Governor of 
Virginia, acting under the authority and will of 
the people, called all the volunteer militia into 
active service and at once made a call upon the 



28 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

citizens of the State for new volunteers. All the 
able-bodied men in the State between the ages 
of 18 and 4^ years were asked to enlist in service. 

In my county an infantry company and one 
cavalry were raised within a few months and were 
enrolled into service. Volunteers poured in in 
large numbers and the two companies were or- 
ganized, officered, and equipped with uniforms 
and arms. These two companies went into camp 
near the village, where they were drilled and dis- 
ciplined under strict military regulations. As 
many of these men were imable to furnish their 
own horses and uniforms the county authorities 
authorized an appropriation from the Treasury of 
sufficient money to feed and clothe these volun- 
teers. The gray cloth suitable for uniforms was 
not to be had in our county. My father was 
selected as the chairman of a committee to pur- 
chase this material. To this end he visited a 
large woolen mill located near Winchester and 
took me with him. He purchased many yards of 
gray cloth and gave orders for the early delivery 
of more. 

My father and I returned home. Tailors were 
employed to cut out the gray cloth for the uni- 
forms of the two companies, — which were, how- 
ever, all made by the women and girls of our vil- 
lage, aided by some negro women who were 
trained to do needlework, — and in a few days the 
two companies appeared in their military outfit. 



VIRGINIA SECEDES 29 

The infantry company was sent to join the army 
at Manassas, where it soon performed gallant 
service in the first great battle of the war. In this 
fight four of its members were killed and some 
eight or ten wounded. I shall never forget the 
sorrow of our people when the death of these four 
men was announced. It was the first blood 
lost in battle, and brought home the solemn real- 
ization of what war meant. 

As to the company of cavalry, the members 
were, at least, all trained horsemen and owned the 
best of mounts. . Many of these horses had been 
used in tournaments, — a species of sport that was 
very popular with the youth of the '6o's, — or had 
followed the hounds, as was natural in a country 
where the fox was found in large numbers in the 
mountain recesses and caverns. Their training 
had therefore fitted them for cavalry service. 
This fact gave a great advantage to the Confeder- 
ate cavalry service during the first two years of 
tlie war, and while the men of our cavalry com- 
pany were well uniformed, their equipment in 
other respects was extremely defective. All rode 
the Shafter saddle with iron stirrup, carried their 
clothing in old-fashioned saddlebags or rolled in 
bundles strapped in front or behind as best they 
could, and were armed with old-fashioned single- 
barreled or double-barreled shotgims or with 
squirrel rifies. I doubt whether there were a 



30 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

dozen revolvers and cavalry sabers in the entire 
command, and such as there were were impossible. 
For example, a cousin of mine, a boy of seventeen, 
who was a member of this company, had an old 
single-barreled duelling pistol, which went off with 
a loud explosion, but could not carry a bullet 
thirty paces nor hit a barn door at the same dis- 
tance. I looked on with admiration when I first 
saw him riding a spirited gray horse, shooting off 
his old pistol in order to accustom his horse to 
stand under fire. But the old pistol made such a 
loud noise that his horse bolted and ran as if his 
life were in danger. My cousin did not venture 
to fire the weapon again, and I presume that he 
soon consigned it to a junk pile, where it belonged ; 
for it was more dangerous to its owner and his 
horse than it could possibly have been to the 
enemy, who might only have been alarmed per- 
haps by the loud report that it made. 

In spite of the character of the arms that our 
men had to use in the first year of the war, — and 
in the first engagements they were at a great dis- 
advantage as to weapons, though their better 
horsemanship and dash made up for some of these 
defects, — it was not many months before the Con- 
federate cavalry, by capture from the enemy, was 
fully mounted and equipped with a complete mili- 
tary outfit, — using McClellan saddles, and armed 
with revolvers, carbines, and sabers manufactured 



VIRGINIA SECEDES 31 

by the Federal Government. This mode of equip- 
ment applied not only to the cavalry but, in a 
measure, to every branch of service. It is a matter 
of fact that the Federal Government supplied 
arms, ammunition, and military outfit not only to 
its own troops but also very largely to the armies 
of the Confederacy. As fast as captures were 
made the better outfit was substituted for the 
makeshift of the first days of the War, and, but 
for such success in acquiring arms, the armies of 
the Confederacy would have yielded much sooner 
to the forces against them. 



CHAPTER IV 

GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 

Although a boy of but twelve years of age at 
the time of my trip with my father to Winchester, 
I vividly recall an incident that occurred on that 
occasion. Among the officers and soldiers await- 
ing orders who filled Taylor's Hotel, where we 
were entertained, my father recognized Colonel 
Turner Ashby, whom he knew well. I shall never 
forget the impression I there received of that 
daring and variously estimated military hero. 

Colonel Ashby had just dismounted from a 
magnificent white horse, — a noble animal, sub- 
sequently well known to the people of the Valley 
by his courageous death, — and was standing on 
the pavement in front of the hotel, holding the 
bridle rein. The horse was steaming with per- 
spiration from his long travel that morning, but 
he stood, champing his bit, with head erect, and 
eyes full of spirit and fire, while his master, calm 
and erect, seemed absorbed in thought. My 
father went up to the Colonel, greeted him cordi- 
ally and introduced me. He took my hand gently 
ajid spoke to me most kindly. 

At this time Colonel Ashby had but recently 
3^ 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 33 

been promoted to the rank of Colonel, which pro- 
motion gave him command of all the cavalry com- 
panies assembled in the Valley. He was just en- 
tering upon a career that soon made him an heroic 
character in the history of the Civil War. 
Dressed now in Confederate gray, with gilt lace 
on his sleeves and collar, wearing high top-boots 
with spurs and a broad-brimmed black felt hat 
with a long black feather streaming behind, his 
appearance was striking and attractive. He stood 
about five feet eight inches in height and probably 
weighed from i ^o to 160 pounds. He was mus- 
cular and wiry, rather thin than robust or rugged. 
His hair and beard were as black as a raven's 
wing; his eyes were soft and mahogany brown; a 
long, sweeping mustache concealed his mouth, and 
a heavy and long beard completely covered his 
breast. His complexion was dark in keeping with 
his other colorings. Altogether, he resembled the 
pictures I have seen of the early Crusaders, — a 
type unusual among the many men in the army, 
a type so distinctive that, once observed, it cannot 
soon be forgotten. 

I remember that during the interview he re- 
marked that he had ridden that morning on horse- 
back between 30 and 40 miles, visiting outposts 
and camps of different companies under his com- 
mand. Despite that fact, he showed no evidence 
of fatigue, nor did the gallant horse that bore him I 



34 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

I afterward learned that it was no uncommon cir- 
cumstance for him to ride 70 to 80 miles a day, 
using two mounts. His horses were the best to 
be had, and they were cared for with a most 
loving affection by their master. While on that 
visit to Winchester I heard also for the first time 
the name of Colonel Jackson, then in charge of 
the Virginia troops at Harper's Ferry. He was 
known at that time only as an eccentric professor 
who knew little of warfare beyond the drilling 
and disciplining of soldiers. Colonel Jackson was 
soon promoted to the rank of brigadier-general 
and given the command of the brigade that sub- 
sequently became celebrated as the Stonewall 
Brigade, — so named because of the title its com- 
mander won at the battle of Manassas, July 21, 
1861. 

Turner Ashby, the third child of Colonel Turner 
Ashby and Dorothea Green, was bom on October 
23, 1828, at Rose Bank, a picturesque home across 
Goose Creek, about one hundred and fifty yards 
from Markham Station, Fauquier County, Vir- 
ginia. He was the fourth in line of descent from 
Captain Thomas Ashby who moved from Tyde- 
water, Virginia, and settled at the foot of Ashby's 
Gap, Fauquier County, about 1710. 

Four generations of Turner Ashby's family had 
served in our country's wars, — the Colonial Wars, 
the War of the Revolution, and the War of 1812. 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 35 

There was a strong military bias in the Ashby 
family and this, no doubt, had much to do with 
the military spirit that was so firmly implanted in 
Turner Ashby's nature. 

While not trained to military service he early 
developed a love for the soldier's life, and while 
quite a young man he organized one of the best 
cavalry companies in the State of Virginia. He 
was selected as the captain of this company and 
gave it an efficiency that gained for it a wide dis- 
tinction before it was called into active service in 
the Civil War. 

The country around Markham is one of great 
natural beauty, of fertility, and healthfulness. 
The foothills of the Blue Ridge surround Mark- 
ham on all sides, dividing the landscape into val- 
le}s and elevated plateaus, covered with forests, 
grazing fields, and rich farm lands. 

The old and distinguished Colonial families 
early moved up to this section and founded a com- 
munity of rare intelligence, refinement, and good 
breeding. There were before the war few sections 
of Virginia which could show such a citizenship of 
culture and independence as was found around 
Markham. 

It was among these people that Turner Ashby 
was born and raised. It was in this pure atmos- 
phere of comfort and refinement that he developed 
those characteristics of courtesy, manliness and 



36 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

courage which were so fully exemplified in his 
after life. 

As a young man he was noted for his gentleness, 
modesty and love of outdoor sport. He had great 
love for the horse and the hound. In the wild 
chase for the fox over field and fence and in his 
fondness for the tournament he was noted for 
being one of the most graceful and skillful riders 
in the South. As he grew to manhood he became 
famous as the most successful tournament rider in 
Virginia and when he appeared in the list the 
spirit of chivalry was never more beautifully illus- 
trated than in the Knight of the Black Prince, 
which character he usually assumed. 

When the John Brown Raid occurred, in the fall 
of 1859, Turner Ashby, with his company of 
cavalry, was among the first volunteer troops to 
arrive on the scene, and it was on this occasion 
that he first demonstrated his military daring and 
skill. 

He remained on duty at Charlestown with his 
company until after the execution of John Brown. 
It was on this service that he made the ac- 
quaintance of Lee, Jackson, and Stuart, whom he 
followed in the war between the States, and it 
was here, too, that he laid the foundation for that 
relationship with Stonewall Jackson that lasted 
until his death. 

The day after Virginia seceded from the Union 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 37 

Turner Ashby marched to Harper's Ferry with his 
company, which was one of the first volunteer com- 
panies to reach that place. He was assigned at 
once to outpost duty along the Potomac, and took 
command of the bridge across the river at Point 
of Rocks. Here he assembled a battery of ar- 
tillery, — under Captain Imboden, — and a number 
of infantry and cavalry, with which he successfully 
guarded the border line of the State until Harper's 
Ferry was evacuated. 

Within less than sixty days he had developed 
such a keen insight into military affairs that, upon 
the recommendation of Coloriel Angus McDonald, 
he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Seventh Virginia Cavalry, then commanded by 
McDonald. His entire active military life was 
associated with this regiment, which contained the 
flower of the best blood of the northern counties 
of Virginia and of Maryland. 

Soon after his assignment to the Seventh Vir- 
ginia he was ordered with his regiment to do duty 
in Hampshire County and along the line of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Harper's 
Ferry and Cumberland. Upon his promotion to 
the lieutenant-colonelcy his brother Richard 
Ashby was made captain of his old company. 

Dick Ashby, as he was affectionately called, was 
three years younger than Turner. For several 
years he had lived in the then far West, where he 



38 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

had had numerous adventures with the Indians and 
with the rough civilization of that unexplored 
country; but had returned to his old home just 
before Virginia seceded. Dick was a larger and 
handsomer man than Turner, full of fire and dar- 
ing and cheerfulness of spirit, and was also more 
demonstrative and showy in social life. In June, 
1861, he was sent with a small squad of his com- 
pany to arrest some LTnion men who were giving 
trouble as informers. On this expedition he ran 
into a company of Federal cavalry on the Balti- 
more and Ohio Railroad, near Hancock, Mary- 
land. Being largely outnumbered, he was forced 
to retire along the track of the railroad. He was 
riding an indifferent horse that fell in attempting 
to jump a cattle-stop. Dick, being dismounted, 
took refuge in the stop, where, refusing to sur- 
render, he fought single handed and alone. He 
was soon desperately wounded and left for dead. 
Among other wounds he had received a bayonet 
stab in the abdomen, which caused his death some 
eight days later near Romney, to which place he 
had been taken by his brother Turner, who had 
come to his rescue and had found him lying by the 
side of the railroad in an exhausted condition. 

The death of Dick was a great sorrow to Turner, 
for the two brothers were devotedly attached to 
each other. Turner became another man after 
Dick's death. His life was consecrated to the 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 39 

cause of the South, and he dared and risked all in 
the service of his country. 

Colonel McDonald was advanced in years and 
in feeble health. He soon resigned the command 
of the Seventh Virginia Cavalry to Turner Ashby, 
who became its leading spirit. He was soon 
placed in charge of all the cavalry under Stonewall 
Jackson, and until the close of his earthly career 
was Jackson's right hand. 

The popularity of the cavalry service attracted 
the young riders of the Valley counties to that 
branch of the service, and before the close of a 
year there were 26 companies in the Seventh Vir- 
ginia, under the command of Turner Ashby. The 
large additions to the regiment made the work of 
organization and discipline exceedingly difficult 
and were embarrassing to the efficiency of the serv- 
ice, which kept the cavalry in constant motion and 
in almost daily contact with the enemy. These 
companies were often widely separated, so that a 
compact regimental organization was impossible; 
in fact, at no time during the campaign of 1862 
were all these companies united for a combined 
attack upon the Federals. 

During the fall and early winter months of 
1861 Turner Ashby was on the go day and night, 
covering a wide territory that extended from the 
Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry along the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake and Ohio 



40 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Canal as far west as Cumberland, Md. He and 
his detached companies were busy destroying the 
railroad and the dams of the canal along the Poto- 
mac between Cumberland and Point of Rocks. 

The activity and physical endurance of Ashby 
were fireside talks in his camps. His restless and 
energetic spirit allowed no time for repose and no 
doubt, contributed in a measure to the want of 
organization and discipline of the companies com- 
ing to his command; for Turner Ashby was not 
a strict disciplinarian by nature. He was a leader, 
and he relied on his men to follow him. The 
necessities of the situation, the surroundings, 
and the character of the men who made up 
his command made an efficient organization 
an almost impossible task; for at that time of 
the war the cavalry service was poorly equipped 
with military saddles and the comforts of the 
camp, was armed with double-barrel shot guns and 
old pistols and rifles, and many of the men were 
without sabers or had those of a very indifferent 
kind. In good horsemanship these men excelled, 
and this fact added to the dash and fury of the 
charge, the vigorous assault and worry of the 
enemy, unprepared for the cavalry methods of 
warfare, gave them a decided advantage. 

Turner Ashby was probably the first officer in 
the army to use both cavalry and artillery on the 
advance and in the retreat against infantry. His 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 41 

tactics and strategy were so unorthodox that he 
confused his opponents and held them in check by 
their ignorance of his strength and purpose. 

In the summer of 1861 Ashby added to his com- 
mand a battery of horse artillery, commanded by 
Captain R. P. Chew, a young graduate of the Vir- 
ginia Military Institute. 

This battery was in almost daily service and was 
most efficient both in attack and in defense. It 
undertook to fight infantry or cavalry, was on the 
firing line at one moment, then would suddenly 
change position to another hill and resume work, 
with vigor and daring. Ashby and his cavalry 
operated entirely in the northern counties of Vir- 
ginia until Jackson evacuated Winchester, March 
12, 1862. When Jackson retired south of Stras- 
burg General Shields entered Winchester and 
pushed forward to Strasburg. Shields had in his 
command 11,000 men and 27 guns, while Jack- 
son had not more than 4,500, including infantry, 
cavalry, and artillery. 

At this time Banks had under his command, in- 
cluding Shields' division, some 40,000 men oper- 
ating in the counties of Berkley, Jefferson, Clarke, 
and Frederick. The division under Sedgwick had 
been sent to join McClellan in front of Richmond, 
and the division under Williams had begun its 
march toward Manassas, March 20, 1862. 

It was necessarv for Jackson to make an advance 



42 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

on Shields, who had now withdrawn from Stras- 
burg to Winchester. The object of this movement 
was to force the recall of the Federal troops to the 
Valley and prevent their union with McClellan. 
The strategy of Jackson worked well ; for as soon 
as he had advanced as far north as Kernstown the 
division under Williams returned to the Valley to 
protect Shields and to make impossible an inva- 
sion of Maryland by way of the Valley. 

On March 22, 1862, Ashby, with 280 cavalry 
and 3 horse artillery guns, struck the pickets of 
Shields one mile south of Winchester. A skirmish 
took place, in which Shields was wounded with a 
shell. Jackson hurried his command from Wood- 
stock, and on the 23d arrived at Kernstown, five 
miles south of Winchester. A general engage- 
ment was brought on and the battle of Kernstown 
was bitterly fought. Jackson, whose force was 
largely outnumbered by that of Shields, was com- 
pelled to withdraw in the late afternoon. 

In the battle of Kernstown Turner Ashby, — 
with less than half of his command together with 
Chew's battery, — won his first laurels, protecting 
Jackson's right wing with such courage and ob- 
stinacy that he saved the infantry on the left from 
rout, and enabled them to retire in order from 
the field. 

Colonel Chew, who commanded the artillery, 
speaking of Turner Ashby, says : "I have always 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 43 

believed his audacity saved General Jackson's 
army from total destruction at the battle of Kerns- 
town, Ashby boldly moved forward with his 
command, consisting of a few companies of cavalry 
and my three guns, and protecting his men from 
observation by woods and ravines, opened on them 
with artillery, and withstood the fire of the ene- 
my's artillery, sometimes as many as three or four 
batteries. When the enemy moved forward he 
dashed upon them with his cavalry. Had the 
enemy known our strength, or had he not been 
deceived by the audacity of the movement, they 
could have swept forward upon the turnpike, 
turned Jackson's right flank, and cut off his re- 
treat by way of the turnpike. They, however, 
made little effort to advance and we remained in 
our position until Jackson retired to Newtown." 

After the battle of Kernstown Jackson retired 
slowly up the Valley. He had accomplished a 
brilliant strategic movement in forcing the Fed- 
erals to concentrate their forces in the \'alley. 
During this retreat, — a retreat that has become 
famous in the history of the Valley campaigns, — 
Jackson's rear was ably protected b)^ Ashby's cav- 
alry and Chew's guns; and no commander en- 
joyed greater distinction than did Turner Ashby. 

The subsequent operations of Ashby and his 
cavalry were confined to the Valley and ended 



44 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

with his death on June 6th, 1862. In the great 
work that Jackson did in defeating Milroy at Mc- 
Dowell and Banks in the Shenandoah Valley- 
Turner Ashby ably seconded his chief and shares 
with him the great distinction that that campaign 
brought to Jackson and his men. 

The last time I saw Turner Ashby was the morn- 
ing following the battle of Front Royal, May 23, 
1862. My father and I were riding over the bat- 
tlefield of the evening before, and as we were re- 
turning in the direction of home we met him riding 
in the direction of Winchester, and passed him on 
the road. He was mounted on a handsome black 
stallion and was going at a brisk pace, pressing 
forward to join his command. He made a hur- 
ried salute and rode on. He had been to the vil- 
lage to pay the last tribute of respect to Captain 
Sheetz and Captain Fletcher, two gallant officers 
of his command, who had been killed the evening 
before in an engagement at Buckton. 

Two weeks later Turner Ashby fell, leading the 
Fifty-eighth Virginia Infantry, in a small engage- 
ment near Harrisonburg. He had that morning 
routed and captured Sir Percy Wyndham, a 
boastful Englishman, colonel of the First New 
Jersey Cavalry, who had planned to capture Ashby 
and who wound up by being a prisoner in Ashby's 
hands. The day was perhaps the most brilliant 
in his life and he had found great satisfaction in 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 45 

capturing the boasting Englishman. In the even- 
ing of the same day, having undertaken to lead the 
infantry in the charge on the Pennsylvania Buck 
Tails, — a regiment of some distinction, — he ad- 
vanced in front of his men, and fell dead from a 
wound in his heart. 

A great deal has been written in prose and verse 
about Turner Ashby. One of his biographers 
(Avirett) has eulogized his memory; another 
(Thomas) has described him as the "Centaur of 
the South." His deeds and his virtues have been 
extolled beyond measure. Could he come back 
to this earth and read what has been written about 
him, his modesty would be shocked and his pride 
would be wounded. 

That his career was phenomenal is true. In 
less than fourteen months he had been promoted 
from the position of captain of a small volunteer 
company of cavalry to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral. He had won his promotion by untiring en- 
ergy, courage, and devotion to duty. He pos- 
sessed many of the qualities of the soldier: 
Courage, energy, coolness, and resourcefulness. 
His judgment was clear and his character was 
forceful. If his past was an indication of his 
future, greater honors and distinctions awaited 
him. In so short and active a career no man 
could have made better use of his opportunities. 
Without military training, he soon grasped the 



46 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

essential principles of military operations and 
played the drama of war with the skill, delicacy 
of movement, and inspiration of the bom soldier. 

At the age of 32 he was leading the quiet life 
of the country gentleman in an atmosphere of 
refinement and quiet repose. With his horses and 
hounds and the social life of the farm, he had easy 
duties and no great responsibilities. At the age 
of 33 he was in command of large bodies of men, 
in daily excitement and anxiety, intensely im- 
pressed with a sense of duty to his country, mov- 
ing rapidly from place to place with restless en- 
erg}-, and at all times striving to measure up to the 
requirements of his position. During this one 
year he aged rapidl)% changing from the simple life 
of the young civilian to the larger sphere of the 
hardened soldier. When death came to him he 
was in the prime of life, surrounded by a halo of 
glory. The cause of his country was prospering, 
and he escaped that sorrow and humiliation of 
spirit that came later to many of his comrades. 

In giving this brief sketch of the life of Turner 
Ashby and of his brother Dick, I may say a few 
words in regard to the personality of these two 
men, so unlike in many respects, yet so blended 
in spirit, motive, and in ties of affection that they 
were one in action and in devotion to the cause 
for which they gave up their lives. 

As a man Turner was as modest as a woman: 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 47 

the soul of honor, courage, and manliness, while 
his ideals were high and his devotion to the South 
gave full play to all his emotions and sentiments. 
It was these qualities that gave to his character 
a type of heroism that has brought more distinc- 
tion to his name and greater satisfaction to his 
family than his military record. He was at all 
times a gentleman, a loyal friend and an affection- 
ate relative; gentle in manner and thought, ret- 
icent in speech. While always genial and com- 
panionable, he was a man of few words, free from 
gossip and anecdote, and a good listener rather 
than a fluent talker. Whether in the social life of 
camp, on the march or on the firing line, he never 
harangued or gave utterance to wordy exclama- 
tions. His mind was intent, rather serious, and 
filled with a keen sense of responsibility. He led 
the charge with the wave of his hat or of his sword 
and the clarion cry: "Come on, boys. Give it 
to them !" giving this command or that as the situ- 
ation presented itself. He directed by action 
rather than by command ; losing sight, in a manner, 
of the higher functions of the commander of men 
by means of written instructions and explicit de- 
tails, he was carried away by his own spirit of 
dare and do, and relied upon his men to follow 
him instead of forcing them into action. With 
this heedlessness of danger and with the eager 
desire to do personal service as an actual com- 



48 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

batant, he exposed himself to many unnecessary 
risks and failed at times to get the most efficient 
service from his men. 

His personal achievements were phenomenal 
and perhaps attracted more attention than did the 
work of his command. He was always in the 
front; and in the charge or in the fray he was 
alive with fire and energy. He used his pistol 
and sword with vigorous effect, and often he did 
the fighting he should have required of his sub- 
ordinates. His love of adventure and of horse- 
back exercise led him to go by himself on long 
and hazardous scouting rides, and he also often 
made his rounds of inspection alone. 

Ashby's horses were as well known in the army 
as the man who rode them. A coal black stallion 
and a pure white one were his usual mounts. 
These two noble animals entered into the spirit 
and excitement of their master's life with all the 
energy and fire of their rider. They swiftly and 
safely bore him from place to place and gave a 
picture of knightly prowess that was an inspira- 
tion to the men of his command. 

There was a singular admixture of military 
ability and of chivalric bearing in Turner Ashby; 
and when these two qualities met they were often 
antagonistic; and his skill as a commander was 
often overmatched by his chivalrous instincts. 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 49 

He was too deeply intent upon his individual 
prowess, — too easily influenced by the excitement 
and danger of battle to give to the organization 
and discipline of his command the personal atten- 
tion that military requirements demanded. His 
command was too often dispersed and scattered 
to produce the most effective results. It is mar- 
vellous how he accomplished as much as he did. 
His success must be attributed to a small band of 
men who clung to his person, followed his leader- 
ship and dared to do what he recklessly did. 

Whatever position Turner Ashby made as a 
soldier, his record rests more on his heroic char- 
acter, his pure and unselfish nature, and his devo- 
tion to duty. In battle he had the courage and 
daring that no difficulties could overcome. 
When the battle was over he was the mildest of 
the mild, the gentlest of the gentle, — tender, 
thoughtful, and kind to friend or enemy in dis- 
tress. There were no brutal instincts in his na- 
ture. He fought for the sake of conscience, and 
duty held full control over every passion and am- 
bition. His sweetness of disposition, his man- 
liness of character, the purity of his soul, will 
ever hold his memory dear in loving minds and 
hearts. 

Dick Ashby, too, was a very handsome man, — 
large, well-built, and commanding in person. In 



so THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

disposition he was social, lively, and cheerful. 
His morals and character were built on the gentle- 
man's code. 

He was a manly man with the courage and dash 
of the cavalier. He entered into the life of the 
soldier with the energy and passion of a strong na- 
ture, and but for his short military life of less than 
three months he would, no doubt, have achieved 
distinction as a soldier. He died from wounds 
unnecessarily inflicted by a brutal soldier, after 
he had been shot a number of times and lay pros- 
trate on the ground. It was this act of barbarity 
that so angered his brother Turner and made him 
the desperate foe he soon became. Turner never 
forgave this brutal murder of Dick, but in his 
revenge he never inflicted cruel punishment upon 
individuals. In the heat of combat he fought in 
the open like a tiger; but when the combat was 
over he was compassionate toward the wounded 
and the prisoner. After an engagement his first 
act was to care for the wounded with the gentleness 
of a woman. 

Dick received his mortal wounds on the morn- 
ing of June 26,1861. Owing to his great vitality 
he lingered eight days and died at the home of 
Colonel George Washington, six miles north of 
Romney. Turner was in constant attendance 
during his illness and did all a loving heart could 
do to soothe the pains of his dying brother. 



GENERAL TURNER ASHBY 51 

After Dick's death Turner Ashby wrote the fol- 
lowing words to his sister: 

"Poor Dick went into the war like myself, not to 
regard himself or our friends, but to serve our 
country in this time of peril. I know your Ma 
and Mary will all be too good soldiers to grudge 
giving to your country the dearest sacrifice you 
could provide. . . . His country has lost the serv- 
ices of a brave man, with a strong arm, which he 
proved to her enemies in losing his life. . . . 
I had rather it had been myself. He was younger 
and had one more tie to break than I." I had 
him buried in a beautiful cemetery at Romney. 
. . . I lose the strength of his arm in the fight 
and the companion of my social hours. I mean 
to bear it as a soldier, and not as one who in this 
time of sacrifice regards only his own loss." 

Turner Ashby was killed on the evening of 
June 6, 1862, — eleven months after Dick's death. 
He was buried in the cemetery of the University 
of Virginia, Charlottesville. In the fall of 1866 
the bodies of Turner and Dick Ashby were re- 
interred in the beautiful Mt. Hebron cemetery at 
Winchester, Va., where they now sleep, sur- 
rounded by their companions in arms and eight 
hundred and fifteen other soldiers, who are cov- 
ered by a mound, above which rises a monument 
to the "I Unknown Dead." 
2 This no doubt refers to his engagement to be married. 



52 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

"Bold as the Lion Heart — 
Dauntless and brave; 
Knightly as knightliest 
Bayard could crave ; 
Sweet — with all Sidney's grace — 
Tender as Hampden's face — 
Who, who shall fill the space, 
Void by his grave?" 

Mrs. Preston. 



CHAPTER V 

AN INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE. HOSPITALS 
IN OUR VILLAGE 

The months following the opening of the war 
were crowded with activity and excitement. Our 
village was filled with visitors, soldiers, and parties 
passing through on their way to the seat of war. 
Each day brought some new event, some reminder 
of the struggle into which our country had en- 
tered. After our two companies had left for the 
front our citizens were busy preparing in many 
ways for the comforts of the boys in the army. 
The women, — young and old, — organized sewing 
societies and made clothing and other articles for 
the personal use of the soldier. Cooks were busy 
preparing food supplies, — such as hams, poultry, 
bread, cakes, and pies, — which were packed in 
boxes and shipped almost daily to the members 
of the companies or to the officers in command. 
I remember that my mother shipped a large box 
to the Confederate general in command at Ma- 
nassas, and in going over my father's papers I find 
the following interesting correspondence between 
her and General Bonham. 

53 



54 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Front Royal, Warren County, Va. 

June 6th, 1861. 
General M. L. Bonham^ 

Com??iander C. S. A. 
Dear Sir : I have the pleasure, upon the part 
of the ladies of our little village, of presenting to 
5'ou and through you to the gallant officers and 
men under your command, a lot of Virginia cured 
hams, with other substantial of life, which have 
been prepared; and you will please accept as a 
voluntary contribution to your usual rations, and 
as evidencing our appreciation of the sacrifice you 
make in coming to the assistance of our honored 
old Commonwealth in this her hour of need. Al- 
low us to say that as wives we know how to sympa- 
thize with those you have left in deep anxiety for 
their absent husbands; as mothers, our hearts yearn 
in tender love for their young, inexperienced, but 
chivalrous sons; as sisters there is a ceaseless throb 
for our brothers' care, which knoweth not rest, and 
as ladies, our voices mingle in grateful strains to 
cheer and encourage you to deeds of valor. We 
know that the race is not to the swift nor the battle 
to the strong; and vain is he who trusteth in the 
arm of flesh. May we, therefore, all look for suc- 
cess to Him who calmeth the seas and rideth upon 
the waves, trusting He may so lead and direct as to 
restore peace to our borders and give separation 
from our assailants. We believe in the justice 



INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE SS 

of our cause and rely on the valor of our men. 
Very respectfully yours, 

Elizabeth A. Ashby. 

Manassas Junction, Va., 

June 6th, 1861. 
Mrs. Ashby. 

My Dear Madam: The very acceptable 
present from the patriotic ladies of Front Royal 
is just received, and will be disposed of according 
to their wishes. 

Allow me, Madam, to return to the ladies the 
heartfelt thanks of the entire command for their 
kind consideration, not only in sending us these 
very appropriable good things, but also for 
their generous sympathy for those near and 
dear ones we have left behind us. Whatever 
sacrifice we make in giving our services to the 
common cause on the soil of the great "Old Do- 
minion" is much lightened by the frank and gen- 
erous hospitality of the citizens of Virginia, — 
especially the ladies. 

Accept in behalf of yourself and the ladies you 
represent our sincere wishes for your own and 
their prosperity and happiness. 

Very truly yours, 

M. L. BONHAM, 

Brig.-Gen. C. S. A. 



56 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

At about this time our village began to be a 
place for the care of the sick and wounded brought 
by rail from Manassas. When the wounded were 
but a few, the sick men were taken into the 
homes of the people and cared for until restored 
to health; but as the number of patients grew it 
soon became necessary to establish a hospital for 
the overflow. 

Our old Academy building was first pressed 
into service. Benches and desks were removed, 
and beds were established. It was soon over- 
crowded, however, and the court-house and two of 
the churches were converted into hospitals; and 
later, owing to the accommodations still being in- 
adequate, additional quarters were required. The 
Confederate Government then began to erect three 
large hospital buildings on lots adjacent to the 
village, in accordance with a plan that provided 
for a large hospital plant, and the work was pushed 
with vigor. 

After the first battle of Manassas the arrival of 
the wounded and sick was so large that every bit 
of available space was utilized. All of our peo- 
ple, especially our women, were kept busy looking 
after the needs of this rapidly growing popula- 
tion. 

Too much cannot be said about the zeal and 
faithful services of our women. They went into 
the kitchens and prepared dainties, visited the 



INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE 57 

wards and gave personal attention to the sick, 
looked after beds and bedding, and in many ways 
added to the comfort of the hospital inmates. In 
their patriotism and unselfish service no act of 
self-sacrifice was neglected. But for our women, 
these sick soldiers would have fared badly; for 
the overcrowding and inefficient hospital service 
were at times deplorable. 

I well remember the sorrow at the first death 
in the hospital, — the death of a man from a 
Southern State, who had left a wife and children 
in his far-away home to serve his country. He 
had been brought from Manassas with a severe 
attack of fever, which carried him off a few days 
after his arrival at the hospital. His funeral and 
burial were marked by the most profound respect. 
A small military company, on guard duty in the 
village, turned out to give him a military funeral. 
With fife and drum the company marched to the 
yet unused spot that had been selected for a sol- 
diers' cemetery. Our citizens, — men and women, 
boys and girls, — turned out to follow the remains 
of this poor fellow to the cemetery, his last resting- 
place. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in 
the early fall and the exercises were made most 
impressive by the large company that had as- 
sembled to pay respect to the dead soldier. When 
the casket was deposited in the grave a squad of 
soldiers fired a salute over the grave and paid all 



58 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the military honors possible on such an occa- 
sion. 

The solemnity and pathos of that first soldier's 
burial was made most striking by comparison with 
other ceremonies that soon followed. A few days 
later a second death occurred in the hospital. 
This poor fellow was escorted to his grave by a 
few citizens and a squad of soldiers that fired a 
salute and then retired. Very soon another poor 
fellow died, and this one was buried in the simplest 
way. 

As the days came and went deaths followed so 
rapidly that the new cemetery grew and grew till 
it soon became a city of the dead; indeed, God's 
acre was filled so fast that within a few months 
over one hundred bodies were sleeping under the 
sod, now consecrated by the devotion of our peo- 
ple, — a field not filled with men who lost their 
lives in battle, but who died from disease con- 
tracted in camp. As the men were buried, wooden 
head-boards were placed at their graves giving 
name, date of death, and regiment. This care 
was exercised for a time but later many unknown 
were placed in the ground, — men whom it has 
never been possible to identify. Many of them 
were from the States further South, North Caro- 
lina being largely represented. 

An incident that occurred at this time gave me 
much distress. In one of the hospitals near my 



INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE 59 

home there was a tall, lean, pale-faced boy, not 
over 18 years of age, — a member of the Eleventh 
North Carolina Regiment, — who had entered the 
hospital as a convalescent from camp fever and 
was able to take exercise in the yard. His deli- 
cate and refined features and depressed spirits 
greatly excited the interest of his companions who 
tried to cheer him up by making good-natured 
fun of his homesickness. However, the poor boy 
grew weaker day by day, then took to his bed, and 
within a week's time was buried. His name was 
Joseph Hoover, and his grave can be found in the 
soldiers' lot. No doubt his parents and friends 
have thought of him as lying buried on some field 
of battle among the unknown dead, as do many 
who have long since been forgotten. And speak- 
ing of such burials I recall that in my own 
county several hundred men belonging to the 
Northern and Southern armies were so hastily 
buried where they fell in action that their graves 
were torn open by wild animals and their bones 
scattered over the ground, and are now dissolved 
in clay by the hand of time. During the winter 
of 1864 I saw a number of graves of this type. 
Dogs had dug up the remains, and there were 
bones under bushes, under rock piles, or scattered 
all over the ground. These things were all that 
was left of men who had been killed in battle and 
whose bodies had remained unburied for days until 



6o THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

some of our citizens had hurriedly covered their 
remains with dirt and stones as best they could. 
I recall the remains of a poor fellow who was 
mortally wounded in a charge through a deep 
ravine, filled with loose stone and wild brush, 
under which he had crawled, and there died. His 
body had not been discovered until winter had 
killed the brush that had concealed it. When 
found his bones were bleaching under the frost of 
winter. Such cases were not unusual. Often 
bodies were found in wild mountain gorges ; in the 
beds of rivers, or in some unfrequented place 
death had come either by sickness or by a wound. 
These are a few of the tragedies of war, — in- 
evitable when men appeal to the use of arms for 
the control of governmental power. 



CHAPTER VI 

VISIT TO MANASSAS. IN WINTER QUARTERS 

The first battle of Manassas had been fought with 
brilliant success to the Southern cause. The 
affairs of the Confederacy were in a most hopeful 
condition. Our people were moved with deepest 
patriotism and every preparation was being made 
to advance the welfare of the armies now defend- 
ing our rights. Our farmers were busy making 
and gathering in their crops. Every industry was 
employed in making arms, ammunition, and mili- 
tary supplies. Men were being recruited, organ- 
ized into companies, and sent to the front for serv- 
ice. ' All of these activities indicated that the peo- 
ple of the South would make every resistance pos- 
sible against the Federal forces now invading 
their soil. 

Our village occupied a strong strategic position 
and was used as a base where supplies were col- 
lected from adjacent counties for shipment to 
Manassas, where men were gathered for enlist- 
ment and drilled, and where the sick and wounded 
were cared for until ready for service again. So 
crowded were the hospitals at times it became 
necessary to take many of the convalescents into 

6i 



62 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the homes of different families. For weeks at a 
time every available room in my home was occu- 
pied by some convalescent soldier. 

With the opening of the fall months I had to 
take up regular school work. There were, how- 
ever, too many important events taking place to 
admit of a boy's giving much attention to books 
and studies. 

At this time we had the greatest abundance of 
food supplies and plenty of servants to wait on 
the guests in our home. The home of every 
family in the village and surrounding country was 
filled to overflowing as was my own; for the hos- 
pitality of our people knew no limit and their 
kindness to the Confederate soldier, whether sick 
or well, was unbounded. 

During the winter months active military opera- 
tions were suspended and the armies were held in 
winter quarters, where they had only the lighter 
duties to discharge. The boys from our county 
frequently came home on furlough, and our people 
often made visits to the boys in camp at Manassas. 
Trains leaving the village at an early hour in the 
morning arrived at Manassas by nine or ten 
o'clock and returned late in the afternoon, thus 
giving visitors some six or eight hours' stay in 
camp. I remember once making this trip in the 
early fall with my father, mother, and a few 
friends. We carried with us a large box of pro- 



VISIT TO MANASSAS 63 

visions for the boys in camp and spent the day 
there with the then happy fellows. They were 
living in tents, but were comfortably fixed, with 
only light duties to perform and experiencing all 
the pleasures of gay companionship. The hard- 
ships of military service had not up to this time 
been felt. We passed a most pleasant day in 
camp with the soldier boys from our county, and 
had a fair view of the life of the soldier. 

At the time of our visit it was estimated there 
were some 30,000 troops camped in and near 
Manassas, — a place that had at that time only a 
few hundred actual population. Located at the 
junction of two railroads, — one leading from the 
Valley of Virginia, and the other from Richmond 
and points south, — with a single-track road ex- 
tending from Manassas to Alexandria and Wash- 
ington on the Potomac, it had been selected as 
a military post on account of its connections. 

After the first battle of Manassas, July 21, 
1861, the Federal army had withdrawn its main 
force to Washington and the south bank of the 
Potomac; and there were a few outposts between 
Alexandria and Manassas, the intervening terri- 
tory being held by scouts, raiding parties, and 
small encampments on outpost duty. 

At Manassas the Confederate army was acting 
on the defensive. Large forts and fortifications 
had been built, — or were in process of building, — 



64 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

and the place had been put in a very strong posi- 
tion for defense. It was believed at that time 
that the Federal line of invasion would follow the 
line of railroad that led through Manassas. 
While the Confederate troops were being gathered 
and organized at Manassas it was known that 
large Federal forces were assembling in Washing- 
ton and that preparations on a large scale were 
being made for the invasion of Virginia in the 
spring. 

General Geo. B. McClellan had been placed in 
command of the Federal army and he began to 
forge the weapon that was to play the chief role 
in the subjugation of the South. Every resource 
at the command of the Federal Government was 
brought to bear in the work of preparation and or- 
ganization. It was known that more than 200,- 
000 men, at the command of the Federal Govern- 
ment, were in arms at the time. While the North 
and Northwest were pouring in their volunteers to 
swell the Union army the Confederate Govern- 
ment was singularly apathetic. It failed to 
realize the vast importance of the thorough organ- 
ization and equipment of its military forces and 
allowed the winter of 1861 to pass without making 
an aggressive movement. By holding its forces 
on the defensive, it allowed the Federal armies to 
remain in camp and perfect their organizations for 



VISIT TO MANASSAS 65 

aggressive movements in the following spring and 
summer. 

After the brilliant victory at Manassas the 
South seemed to develop a spirit of overconfidence 
in her resources, — a confidence that was not justi- 
fied. She magnified her own prowess and mini- 
mized that of her enemy. Of the Southern gen- 
erals Beauregard and Stonewall Jackson were in 
favor of an aggressive movement, advocating the 
invasion of Maryland and an assault on Wash- 
ington, The Confederate authorities decided to 
remain on the defensive and assented to the policy 
adopted by the Federals. 

This policy gave the North an abundance of 
time to prepare for a war of gigantic proportions. 
The South had at the same time the opportunity 
to equip its armies with arms, ammunition, and 
military supplies from foreign countries, as her 
ports were then open to European countries. The 
South had at that time millions of bales of cotton 
that could have been shipped to England and sold 
for money that would have given the Confederate 
Government a financial backing sufficient to pur- 
chase and outfit a navy, — a navy that would have 
embarrassed that of the Federal Government and 
would have kept the Southern ports open. 

The theory of the Confederate authorities was 
that the withholding of her cotton would force 



66 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the European powers to recognize the Confederate 
Government. This theory was adopted in prac- 
tice, at least; for the Confederate authorities 
allowed the opportunity to pass during the first 
year of the war and after that time it was too 
late. No one can now say what might have been 
the difference in the result of the war had the 
Government at Richmond been controlled with the 
same wisdom and sound maxims of business policy 
as was that at Washington. The historian may 
speculate on such matters, but, in the light of facts, 
the man of common sense can easily see that the 
South owed her defeat to her civil policies, not to 
her armies. 

About the 1st of November Stonewall Jackson 
was promoted to the rank of major-general and 
assigned to the command of the Shenandoah Val- 
ley. He made his headquarters at Winchester, 
having with him a force of less than 5,000 men. 
The Federal army opposing numbered some 
28,000 men, who were placed at different points 
along the Baltimore and Ohio railroad from Point 
of Rocks to Cumberland. General Jackson was 
alive to the situation and kept his forces in action 
during the greater part of the winter. While the 
Confederate army was stationed at Winchester our 
village was within the Confederate lines, and our 
people were not disturbed by the fear of the 
enemy. 



VISIT TO MANASSAS 67 

The winter was full of activity. With four 
hospitals filled with the sick, and many private 
homes caring for the convalescents, there was little 
time for tranquillity. Everyone seemed to be em- 
ployed, our women giving personal attention to 
the care of the sick. I cannot claim that these 
serious duties absorbed all the time of our women, 
— it certainly did not monopolize the time of the 
younger set, for the social life of the village was 
kept in a whirl of excitement by numerous private 
entertainments, dances, and musicales, in which the 
convalescent soldier, the boys at home on fur- 
lough, and the young girls were brought together. 
The game of love was played with as much ardor 
as the game of war. In this way the winter 
months soon rolled around and, with the approach 
of spring, thoughts were turned to other fancies 
than those of love. 

It was during the fall and winter of 1861 that 
the new Confederate bank notes began to circulate, 
and with this new currency came a flood of State 
bank paper, corporation paper, and small shin- 
plasters, issued in denominations of 5, 10, 25, and 
50 cents by any individual engaged in commercial 
business. A watchmaker in our village, with a 
combined capital of less than $1,000, issued his 
notes, made payable at the close of the war, and 
then as opportunities were presented, passed them 
out in change for purchases or for other notes. 



68 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The capacity of the printing press seemed to be 
the only limit to the issue of this bogus currency. 
From the Government down to the small dealer, 
paper money was poured out in such abundance as 
was never before witnessed. Money of every 
description, except in the form of metal, was in the 
freest circulation. Everybody had money and 
everybody felt rich, — even those who had never 
before known the sensation of having money. 
Mone}' became cheap and everything else grew in 
value. A few who had property to sell accepted 
this money in payment and converted it into Con- 
federate bonds. Small fortunes soon grew in this 
paper security that had no other value than the 
promise of the newly organized Government back 
of it. 

So intense was the spirit of patriotism that many 
of our well-to-do citizens were induced to sell their 
personal property and invest in Confederate bonds. 
This was one way they had of giving support to a 
Government that based all its credit on the loyalty, 
of its people and none upon sound and conserva- 
tive measures of financial policy. I was present 
at a private discussion between several of our best 
citizens on the financial policy of the Government, 
in which they expressed the opinion that the Gov- 
ernment would fall because of its own inefficiency 
rather than by the arms of the enemy. They held 
that a public credit that had no basis of strength 



VISIT TO MANASSAS 69 

other than moral support would crumble under 
its own weight. Patriotism, they claimed, would 
raise armies and fight battles, but it could not 
arm, clothe, and feed men. During the winter of 
1861 it became quite evident to men like my 
father and to other leading citizens, that the Gov- 
ernment at Richmond was full of weakness and 
inefficiency. They recognized the symptoms of a 
disease for which they could offer no remedy. 
However, at this time an intense patriotism 
buoyed them up to hope that conditions would 
improve and that the arms of the South would 
overbalance the defects of the civil administra- 
tion. 



CHAPTER VII 

FEDERAL INVASION OF THE SHENANDOAH VAL- 
LEY. BATTLE OF KERNSTOWN. STORMY 
DAYS 

In the spring of 1862 it was announced that Ma- 
nassas would be evacuated by the Confederate 
army, and that the Federal attack would be made 
by way of the Peninsula. The Confederate forces 
were transferred to the Peninsula, with the ad- 
vanced lines at Williamsburg, Va. After the 
evacuation of Manassas the hospitals in our vil- 
lage were closed, and all Government supplies 
were moved into the interior. Notice was given 
that our people would soon be within the enemy's 
lines. 

During the latter part of February General 
Banks, with an army of some 40,000 men, crossed 
the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and began the in- 
vasion of the Shenandoah Valley. The army at 
Manassas withdrew to Orange Court House on 
March 8, which left the Confederate lines in the 
Valley exposed, and made it necessary for General 
Jackson to withdraw to a higher position in the 
Valley. 

On March 1 1, 1862, Winchester was evacuated 
70 



STORMY DAYS 71 

by the Confederates, and on the following day 
General Shields, with a division of 11,000 men, 
took possession of the place. Jackson then fell 
back to Strasburg and upon Shields' advance he 
retreated to Woodstock, twelve miles further 
south. The army under Banks consisted of three 
divisions, aggregating about 40,000 men. Two 
of these divisions had been sent to reinforce 
McClellan, leaving Shields, with over 15,000 men, 
to watch Jackson, with less than 5,000. Shields 
withdrew from Strasburg to Winchester and Jack- 
son followed him as far as Kernstown, about five 
miles south of Winchester, where on March 23rd, 
he engaged Shields in battle. 

The battle of Kernstown was bitterly contested, 
Jackson, — having less than 4,000 men opposed to 
Shields' 9,000, — was forced to retire from the 
field, but he held his men in good order. The 
battle while a tactical defeat was a strategic vic- 
tory for the Confederates, since it recalled to the 
Valley the troops sent to the aid of McClellan, 
and relieved the pressure that McClellan was 
making against the Confederate forces on the 
Peninsula. And Jackson, with his small force of 
some 4,000 men, kept some 40,000 Federal troops 
in the Valley, thus preventing a reenforcement of 
McClellan. 

For the next thirty days Jackson was busily 
manceuvering with the Federal forces to hold them 



72 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

in the Valley. His army now numbered about 
6,000 men, nearly one-half being cavalry. On 
April 30th he went from Elk Run Valley, leaving 
General Ewell, — who had recently joined him, — 
with 8,000 men, to watch the movements of 
the enemy, east of Harrisonburg, crossed over 
the Blue Ridge into eastern Virginia and then 
returned by rail to Staunton. After reaching 
Staunton by this indirect route Jackson united his 
forces with those of General Edward Johnson, 
who had about 2,800 men, and marched west along 
the pike leading from Staunton to McDowell, 
where the Federal forces under General Milroy 
had been concentrated. On May 8th Jackson 
attacked Milroy and soon won the victory of 
McDowell, driving the Federal forces back into 
the mountains of West Virginia. 

On May 12th Jackson returned to the Valley 
and took position on the pike between Staunton 
and Harrisonburg, where he organized that move- 
ment that soon went into history as the Valley 
Campaign, — the most brilliant achievement in the 
War between the States. 

I must now return to the narrative of events 
that took place in our village while the movements 
in the Valley were going on. The withdrawal of 
the Confederate forces from Winchester, and the 
retreat up the Valley placed our county within the 
Federal lines. The hopes of our people were 



STORMY DAYS 73 

greatly depressed and all fully realized the gravity 
of the situation. We were left to the invasion of 
the enemy and felt the apprehension that an 
enemy's presence is sure to create. Many of our 
people had shipped their most valuable horses, 
cattle, and other personal property within the Con- 
federate lines, only keeping at home such stock as 
was needed for farming purposes. Stores and 
business houses were closed, but our farmers went 
on cultivating their crops with as much diligence as 
conditions would permit; for at this stage of the 
war we did not know what effect an invading 
army would have upon the lives and property of 
our people, — whether all rights would be swept 
away, or our old men, women, and children would 
be insulted, imprisoned, and maltreated, and our 
property confiscated. At that time some con- 
fidence was held in the humanity and justice of 
the Federal Government, which was believed to be 
conducting its war against men in arms and not 
against non-combatants. All knew that the war 
was for subjugation of the seceding States, a 
restoration of the Union, and the emancipation of 
the negro. However, the means by which these 
results would be brought about were not fully 
understood ; for at that time the bitter experiences 
of civil war had not been tested. 

Soon after the Confederate forces were with- 
drawn from our village, we were surprised on the 



74 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

afternoon of March 27th by a raid of Federal 
cavalry, consisting of one company, commanded 
by Captain David Strother, a Virginian by birth, 
better known under the nom de plume^ "Porte 
Crayon." 

The company dashed into the village, halted in 
front of the hotel in the Public Square for some 
fifteen minutes, and after asking a few questions, 
seeming satisfied with their investigation, they 
turned their backs on the crowd that had as- 
sembled to see the men who wore the blue. 

Looking back over these stormy days of war, I 
recall the fact that there were several Union men 
in our county who took no part in the great civil 
strife, but who used their influence to defend our 
people, — who respected their opinions because they 
were conscientious and honest, — against the cruel 
spirit of our Northern invaders. They were 
known to the Northern army as Union sympa- 
thizers, but as non-combatants; and on all occa- 
sions they were ready to assist our people in the 
recovery of property that had been taken by the 
Union army or to intercede for those who had been 
unjustly imprisoned. The services of these Union 
men were invaluable. 

In one instance some negroes belonging to one 
of our prominent citizens ran away in the night 
and took with them a wagon and four horses. 
They were traced to the Federal lines, and their 



STORMY DAYS 75 

owner, taking with him one of these Union sym- 
pathizers, went to the camp, made claim to the 
horses and wagon, and secured their return from 
General Milroy, the officer in command. The 
negroes were left to their freedom, for they were 
an untrustworthy, unreliable, and sorry crowd. 
In justice I must say that no Union man in our 
community was either spy or renegade, but sought 
to live peacefully with both sides engaged in a 
fratricidal strife, knowing full well that the pas- 
sions of men engaged in civil war could only be 
subdued by the survival of the strongest. War 
has no respect for the individual. It has no sym- 
pathy for the weak. It seeks only to advance the 
interests of the strong. Those who appeal to its 
decision must accept its results. 

After this first visit of Federal cavalry our peo- 
ple soon became accustomed to the sight of the 
Federal troops. From day to day small bodies 
of soldiers or raiding parties came to the village. 
The place became a stamping-ground for the men 
of both armies. One day the Confederates came 
to see us, and the next day the Federals. Between 
the two we were kept in a state of constant ex- 
citement, bordering sometimes on anxiety, some- 
times on hope. 

During these months the domestic life of the 
community was filled with innumerable disturb- 
ances; anxiety, fear, joy, and sorrow found place 



76 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

in every heart. There was not a family that did 
not have a father, brother, son or some other rela- 
tive in the Confederate army, — relatives who had 
enlisted in different commands located in Vir- 
ginia or in the Western army. All these men were 
exposed to the dangers and casualties ot war; and 
though there was a constant communication by 
letter between the loved ones at home and the 
absent soldier, the mails were irregular and un- 
certain; days frequently passed before the results 
of a battle were known. 

The Richmond newspapers were sought eagerly, 
but items of news were often unsatisfactory. The 
progress of the war was so uncertain, — apparently 
so hopeless, — that the success of our arms seemed 
clouded in doubt. We were now in the enemy's 
territory; our lives and property were exposed to 
death and confiscation, our homes were open to 
the insults and cruelty of an invading army that 
was seeking to trample upon our liberties and 
destroy our institutions. The only hope that ani- 
mated our people was the belief that everyone had 
in the justice of our cause, and in the patriotism 
and valor of our armies. Those unable to take 
part in the military service, — our old men, our 
women, and the children of tender age, — remained 
firm in spirit and daring in purpose. Willing to 
endure every privation, to make every sacrifice, 
they sent words of love and encouragement to their 



STORMY DAYS 77 

kindred in arms, inspiring them to deeds of valor 
and heroism. Our old men and boys were busy- 
in the fields with their crops, sewing seed which 
would bear crops for the enemy to gather or 
destroy. Our women, young and old, were busy 
with the loom, spinning-wheel, and needle, mak- 
ing their own apparel or that of their friends in 
the army. All attempts at ornamentation were 
abandoned: our men were clothed in the plainest 
woolen or cotton fabric, our women, in homespun 
dresses dyed with the bark or root of trees. In 
food, as in raiment, there was simplicity and tem- 
perance. 

As the war continued from year to year these 
methods adopted in 1862 were enforced with 
greater rigidity. 



CHAPTER VIII 

FEDERAL TROOPS IN THE VILLAGE. THE 
SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH 

Though small bodies of Federal troops were fre- 
quently seen in Front Royal, it was not until 
May 14, 1862, that a large body of soldiers en- 
camped near us. This occurred when the division 
of General Shields, on its retreat from the Upper 
Valley, passed our way and went into camp for 
several days in the suburbs. As the weather was 
cold and rainy, and the roads were in the worst 
condition possible for travel, the men were muddy, 
wet, jaded, and looked most miserable. Then, 
too, they had seen hard service in following Stone- 
wall Jackson through his wanderings in the 
Valley. 

There came to our home at this time a Federal 
officer, Col. Thos. C. McDowell, in command of 
a Pennsylvania regiment in Shields' Division, who 
asked for quarters for himself and staff. His re- 
quest was granted and he was entertained by my 
parents with as much courtesy as was possible 
under the existing conditions. My father soon 
learned that he was a gentleman of culture and 
refinement, a Democrat, and a much dissatisfied 

78 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 79 

soldier. Colonel McDowell soon became very 
confidential and related his history to my father 
with a frankness that was pathetic. 

It seems that at the beginning of the war he 
was editing a Democratic paper in a large city in 
Pennsylvania. Being a Union man and what was 
known as a War Democrat, he had been given a 
commission as Colonel of a regiment of volunteers 
by the Governor of his State and in this capacity 
he had entered the army. He was a man with a 
family, one of his sons being a lieutenant in his 
regiment. While a guest in my home he expressed 
to my father his dissatisfaction with the policy of 
the Federal Government both in its purpose and 
in its conduct of the war. He said he had en- 
tered the army under the conviction that the war 
was for the restoration of the Union, but he had 
discovered that its main purpose was to destroy 
the institution of slavery. With the latter pur- 
pose he had no sympathy. He then told my 
father that he had decided to resign his commis- 
sion in the army and resume his duties as editor 
of his paper which was opposed to what he con- 
ceived to be the policy of the Government. 
During the few days this officer was in our home 
we became strongly attracted to him, and when 
he left we had no thought of ever seeing him 
again. Later I will tell of a visit he made to 
our home a few weeks afterward. 



8o THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

General Shields' army remained in camp only 
two da}S and then crossed the Blue Ridge into 
eastern Mrginia. Shortly after this the First 
Maryland Federal Regiment, under the command 
of Colonel J. R. Kenly, went into camp on a 
high hill one mile north of our village. It was 
a large and well-organized regiment, made up 
almost entirely of Maryland men. With the 
regiment was a battery of artillery. Two com- 
panies were detached and stationed in the village 
as a guard for the Provost-Marshal, whose office 
was in the hotel. Outposts and pickets were 
stationed on the main roads that led into the vil- 
lage. These Maryland men were well behaved, 
orderh', and kind to our people, and they created 
a good impression. At this time all private 
property was protected, and, when needed for the 
use of the army, was paid for. The soldiers paid 
for the small things they wanted, such as milk, 
pies, cakes, and fruit. There was no disposition 
to rob or pillage. Colonel Kenly camped on land 
owned by an estate of which my father was the 
administrator, and he gave an order on the Gov- 
ernment to indemnify the estate for the use of 
grass and other property taken by the men of his 
command. Though the Government never re- 
spected his order and has never paid for the 
property the men took, it was not due to any fault 
of Colonel Kenly. He was a gentleman and re- 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 81 

spected the rights of the citizens; which is more 
than can be said for the Government for which 
he was fighting. His action indicated that the 
Federal authorities were fighting men in arms and 
not robbing and destroying the property of un- 
armed citizens. Even the Confederate authori- 
ties were not at that time more considerate of the 
rights of our citizens than were Colonel Kenly and 
his men. Had a policy like his been adopted 
during the subsequent years of the war, it is more 
than probable that peace would have been made 
sooner and without so fearful a waste of life and 
property. 

It was for the reason that the policy of the 
Federal Government with regard to the people of 
the South during the last two years of the war 
was so exasperating to the men, women, and even 
children of that section, that no sacrifice was con- 
sidered too great to make in defense of their lives 
and property. WTien it became a war of exter- 
mination few shrank from the hardships inflicted 
on them; for life and property seemed of less 
value to the Southerners than freedom from 
tyranny and oppression. 

And that is why fathers and mothers, wives 
and sisters, bore their sorrow with stoicism when 
their loved ones fell in battle. Only those who 
lived through the storm of war, — who experi- 
enced the hardships and sorrows of a brutal and 



82 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

inhuman struggle, — can fully realize the suffer- 
ings, the sorrows, and the courage of the Southern 
women, of the old men, and even of children of 
tender age when brought face to face with starva- 
tion and death. We will never know how many 
innocent lives were destroyed, what brilliant 
hopes were crushed by the conditions that sur- 
rounded the non-combatants, nor how many 
actually perished from disease due to starvation. 
Even at this late day, when I think of that time 
of war, and recall the many incidents that came 
under my personal notice, I often wonder how so 
many lived through them, — how the spirit of men, 
women, and children could have endured the situa- 
tion presented to them. 

But I must not dwell upon these now long-for- 
gotten incidents, for the boys of my generation 
were then too young to bear arms and now should 
be too old to remember the hardships of a struggle 
that came into their lives when the fire and pas- 
sion of coming manhood were fiercest. We boys 
were everywhere, we saw everything, we grew up 
in an atmosphere in which human suffering and 
human life were the cards with which men played 
the game of life and chance. To be wounded, to 
be killed, to die in hospital or in home from dis- 
ease contracted in camp were daily experiences. 
And if such happenings did not come there was no 
excitement, — nothing to arouse the deeper pas- 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 83 

sions, nothing to create an interest in the day's 
adventure. 

Each year as the war advanced the boys older 
than myself, — whose companionship I shared, — 
enlisted in the army; and though still of tender 
age, they made gallant soldiers, doing faithful 
service in their country's cause. One by one these 
boys were cut down with wounds or killed in 
battle. They were little better than targets for 
the enemy's bullets, for, knowing little of the cau- 
tion of men experienced in war, they rushed 
wildly into danger and lost their lives from heed- 
less exposure. Of the ten boys who were my 
schoolmates during the winter of 1862-3 four 
were inmates of hospitals and five were killed in 
battle before the close of the war. Four of these 
boys, who had scarcely passed their sixteenth 
birthday, enlisted during the spring of 1864, and 
were killed in battle before the end of the year. 

I mention these facts to show the spirit of our 
people and the sacrifices that were made necessary 
by the fortunes of war; for when parents and rela- 
tives were willing to give their sons and their 
dearest ones of tender age to the defense of the 
South the limit of heroic sacrifice had been nearly 
reached. When the surrender came I had scarcely 
reached my sixteenth birthday, yet my father had 
selected the company and the branch of service in 
which I was to enlist, and a few weeks' prolonga- 



84 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

tion of the struggle would have seen me an en- 
listed soldier, and in all probability I would not 
have lived to write this story. 

It was a common remark that the Confederate 
Government had robbed the cradle and the grave 
in its demand for men. The conscript officer had 
raked our country as with a fine-tooth comb, and 
had left only feeble old men and small boys, unfit 
for military service. In fact, so few men had been 
left to cultivate the soil and care for our women 
and children that our people would have been 
almost destitute but for our faithful negro men 
and women. When the Federal troops seized our 
village but few of the negroes left their masters. 
The vast majority consented to remain with their 
owners and work for our people. Only one of my 
father's negroes ran away. Two of our faithful 
old negroes, Lewis and Susan, took possession of 
our property and rendered an invaluable service. 
Uncle Lewis cultivated the land and took care of 
what live stock was left us, while Susan managed 
the kitchen, dairy, and poultry. These two old 
servants were as careful of my father's interests 
as if they owned everything on the place. 

The persons who charge the Southern people 
with harshness and brutality to the negro slave can 
have no better answer to their foul slander than 
the behavior of the negro population toward the 
women and children of their masters during the 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 85 

war. Though urged to acts of violence, they re- 
mained loyal and kind to the people who owned 
them, protected their lives and property and ren- 
dered a domestic service that no servile race would 
have discharged if the bonds of servitude had held 
them. Though free after the first year of the 
war to leave their homes and go North, only a few 
took advantage of this opportunity. Those that 
remained were as respectful, obedient, and loyal 
as though a war for their liberation was not in 
progress. In many instances these faithful old 
family servants showed their devotion to the peo- 
ple who had raised them, and who, according to 
the Northern idea, had enslaved and maltreated 
them. 

The baseness and falseness of this idea was re- 
pudiated by the slave himself. Thistles do not 
bear figs, nor does servitude bring love and loyalty 
for the oppressor. If the Southern land was de- 
based b)^ the blighting influence of slavery^ why 
was the negro so slow in trying to break the 
shackles? Why, when the opportunity came, did 
he not rise, with brutal passion, and resent the 
wrongs that had been heaped upon him by his 
master'? We know, as a matter of fact, that 
during the war, with very few exceptions, the 
negroes manifested no violence nor insurrection 
but were submissive, kind, and loyal to the people 
that were fighting to hold them in slavery. Why 



86 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

are these facts as stated"? An explanation will 
be found, I believe, in the character and disposi- 
tion of the negro race; and then, too, the older 
and more intelligent negroes believed that their 
race was not yet prepared to profit by freedom. 

The negroes were, in the main, a happy and 
contented people, unwilling to assume the re- 
sponsibilities that their independence would bring 
them. They realized the fact that when brought 
into an industrial competition with the white race 
they would experience greater hardship than had 
ever been their lot in slavery. They foresaw that 
several generations must come and go before the 
privileges of freedom would equal those of slavery. 
The results of reconstruction and the present con- 
dition of the negro race in the South have demon- 
strated the correctness of these opinions if one is 
willing to investigate the facts, with an open mind. 
The older negroes were the first to experience the 
bitter fruits of their liberation, while the younger 
generations have, as a race, failed to reach the 
standard that their emancipators had hoped for. 

It is true that during the progress of the war 
a large number of negroes were enlisted in the 
Federal army and took sides with the North. If 
we study the influences that led to this service in 
behalf of the Union it will be found that the 
bounty money, the pay for military service, the 
excitement and display of the soldier's life had 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 87 

more to do with their enlistment than motives of 
patriotism or a spirit of revenge toward the slave- 
owner of the South. 

In the Confederate army there were numbers 
of negro men who served as teamsters, orderlies 
and employees. These negroes were as loyal to 
the South as were those of their race in the service 
of the North. Had the Confederate Government 
enlisted and armed the negro, there is little doubt 
that he would have made an efBcient and cou- 
rageous soldier in the Southern ranks. The policy 
of the Confederate Government was to keep the 
negro a non-combatant and to make use of his 
services as a laborer in the field or on public works, 
such as forts and fortifications. Many of the 
negroes remained on the farms and plantations 
and raised supplies for the armies in the field. 
There were probably two strong considerations 
which led to this policy; the stronger of which was 
that the negro was valuable personal property, and 
his owner was unwilling to have his life en- 
dangered by active military service. The slave- 
owner was willing to expose the life of his son to 
the hazard of war but not his negro. 

I may illustrate this statement by a case that I 
know to be true. A young Confederate officer, 
whose father owned a valuable negro man, wrote 
home to his father requesting the use of this negro 
for his personal services. The father refused the 



88 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

son's request, with the very innocent (*?) state- 
ment that he feared his slave might be killed in 
battle. He did not seem to think that his son's 
life was equally as valuable as that of his negro 
servant. This was not an isolated case if the facts 
be known. It represents a principle that had 
much to do with the defeat of the Southern cause. 
It can hardly be a surprise why the South went 
down in disaster when patriotism was often 
shackled by such a narrow policy. Who doubts 
but that when the States of the South announced 
to the world their withdrawal from the LTnion, in 
defense of the right of self-government, if they 
had stated as their policy a gradual emancipation 
of the negro, the Confederate Government would 
have been established upon an enduring basis ^ 
Does not the South owe her humiliation to the 
narrow policy of contending for the extension of 
the institution of slavery, — an institution con- 
demned by the almost universal sentiment of civil- 
ized nations'? She stood alone in her contention 
for human slavery, — no doubt honestly and, as she 
believed, for the best interest of the negro race; 
yet, as the war progressed, she had the opportunity 
to modify her position and to declare for a system 
of gradual emancipation, which would have met 
all the conditions of her political and national 
independence. 

Slavery in the South was doomed when the first 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 89 

gun was fired from Fort Sumter. Had the Con- 
federate Government succeeded by arms, the 
gradual emancipation of the negro would have 
come as surely as the night follows the day; for 
the Southern Confederacy could not have held a 
dominant position among civilized nations, with 
slavery undermining the very life upon which 
nations live and prosper. 

In the border States the principles of gradual 
emancipation grew stronger and stronger as the 
war progressed. With the successful establish- 
ment of a Confederate Government this principle 
would have prevailed in the border States and 
would gradually have extended to the large slave- 
holding States. The element of time was only 
needed to bring into force a policy that would have 
made negro slavery disappear by gradual steps as 
the negro was prepared to exercise the privileges 
of freedom. 

In the light of results we may vainly speculate 
on things that might have been. The mistakes 
of rulers and of governments have filled history 
with innumerable crimes. Time must show 
whether the war between the States was worth all 
it cost in blood and treasure. This claim has been 
made by some of our most distinguished men who 
took an active part in the bitter struggle between 
the North and the South, — notably by General 
Grant in his "Memoirs." The men of my genera- 



90 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

tion have not fully assented to this view. We 
live too near the period of reconstruction that 
followed the war to forget the humiliation that 
was heaped upon the South by the political party 
that dominated the Federal Government for a 
quarter of a century following the conclusion of 
peace. The four years' bitter struggle with arms 
does not represent the full sufferings of the South- 
ern people in the contest they made to secure their 
political freedom and to establish the civilization 
of the South upon a basis of law and order. She 
has ever fought for the Anglo-Saxon domination, 
for equal rights, and justice in the government of 
the nation. 

We have been told but little of the doings, of 
the suffering, or of the spirit of the old men, the 
women, and the children who were afflicted by the 
civil or foreign wars in which their fathers, hus- 
bands, and brothers were involved. 

The history of the War between the States has 
been written from many points of view, but I have 
been unabk to find a work of personal reminis- 
cences which gives pictures of individual acts and 
actors or a story of the inner life of the people who 
stayed at home and bore the sufferings of war with- 
out murmur and without weakness of spirit. 

In the contests between nations and peoples of 
kindred blood the courage and heroism of the peo- 
ple who have remained at home have played an 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 91 

important part in the results of war. To the valor 
of our Colonial ancestors we owe the final success 
of the Revolutionary forces that for eight years 
maintained a struggle for independence, which 
would not have been won but for the patriotism 
of the men, women, and children at home. In our 
Civil War the vast odds against the South were 
held in check by the Home Guard, — the old men, 
the women, and the children. They gave hope 
and inspiration to the men in the field, and by their 
unyielding spirit they made the struggle for in- 
dependence a contest of endurance,- — a contest 
that ended only because of complete exhaustion. 

History has been too silent in its estimate of 
these quiet forces that have had the greatest in- 
fluence over men in arms, over rulers, and leaders 
of public affairs. When, at the conclusion of the 
Third Silesian War, Frederick the Great, with his 
five million Prussians, had dissolved the coalition 
of Russia, France, and Austria, with one hundred 
million population, and his country lay prostrate 
in the dust, all property and resources destroyed, 
cities and villages deserted, there was only one 
pillar of strength left: the invincible spirit and 
patriotism of the people, — a determination to 
perish or win out in the struggle for national 
life. 

The men, women, and children in the South 
were filled with this spirit, and I deny that it can 



92 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

be shown that these suffering people at any time 
weakened in courage, valor, or endurance. 

It can be shown, to the contrary, that they bore 
their privations and hardships at home and urged 
their friends and loved ones in the army to remain 
faithful to their country's cause. 

I have tried to tell in this story a few things 
which our non-combatant population in the South 
did during the four years of strife. The details 
are short and, perhaps, of minor importance but 
they have a practical relation to the events that 
were going on, if not a positive influence over the 
spirit of the times. The men and women who 
write the poems and songs that inspire a people 
with a spirit of zeal and patriotism play a noble 
part in the life of nations. It may be said with 
equal justice that the fathers, mothers, wives, and 
sisters who give life and courage to the men who 
fight battles are powerful influences in determining 
the actions and fates of peoples and nations. All 
public sentiment is modified and molded by the 
influences of home life and those men who seek to 
direct the life of a people in opposition to these in- 
fluences are working against dangerous odds. The 
common sense and justice of home thinking is the 
great safeguard of national life and liberty. As 
our rulers cultivate and enlarge the life, spirit, and 
wisdom of the home to the same extent do they 



FEDERAL TROOPS IN VILLAGE 93 

advance the cause of good morals and sane govern- 
ment. 

The social and domestic life of the Southern 
people was built upon the home as its foundation. 
The home dominated the spirit and influenced 
society, regulated its morals, and erected standards 
that made a civilization of rare virtue, culture, and 
refinement. The population of the South was 
largely rural. There were no large cities at the 
beginning of the civil war and no great commercial 
or manufacturing centers. Life on the plantation 
and farm gave health and vigor of mind and body, 
and cultivated a spirit of chivalry and manliness, 
— a spirit that held woman in the highest esteem. 
It was this aspect of domestic life that gave the 
Confederate soldier daring and confidence in 
battle, patience under privation, and endurance in 
the long struggle for national independence. 

The influence of the home was with him in the 
camp, on the march, in battle, in hospital, and in 
prison. He seldom lost sight of the claims of 
duty, of patriotism, or of home ties and obliga- 
tions. 

When disaster came to the Southern cause this 
same spirit of chivalry, of home life, and love of 
the land's domestic institutions clung to the men 
and women of the South; and during the trying 
days of reconstruction they never wavered in their 



94 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

loyalty to the Anglo-Saxon rule. In the racial 
struggle between master and slave there was no 
compromise with conditions that threatened to 
destroy a civilization of rare virtue and culture. 
Step by step the racial difficulties were removed 
and the proper relations between the white man 
and the negro were adjusted. History will grant 
to the people of the South rare patience and for- 
bearance in solving a domestic problem made em- 
barrassing by national laws and political animosi- 
ties. To-day the South has come to know her 
duty to a nation that her forefathers labored to 
establish. She realizes her relation to this na- 
tional life, the value of her influence in national 
affairs, and her patriotism and loyalty to a gov- 
ernment that now leads the world in the general 
uplift of humanity. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE SOUTHERN WOMAN. THE DOMESTIC 
LIFE OF OUR PEOPLE 

While writing up these recollections of our men 
and boys I must not neglect to relate some of my 
observations on our Southern women, whose 
loyalty and devotion to the Southern cause knew 
no bounds. 

In my section of Virginia, the larger number of 
the women had been brought up under the institu- 
tion of slavery and knew little of the hard 
drudgery of domestic service. They had been 
taught to direct the management of the home and 
to do light needlework, but they relied almost en- 
tirely on the old negro women and young negro 
girls to do the heavy work about the kitchen and 
in the house. In nearly every large family there 
was an old negro "Mammie," as she was called, 
who took general charge of the domestic care of 
the house and managed the young negro girls em- 
ployed about the home. 

This old negro "Mammie" had usually nursed 
the children and looked after their clothes and 
comforts. The negro cook not only prepared the 
meals but usually milked the cows, attended to 

95 



96 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the dairy and poultry and, as a rule, bossed the 
other negroes. Young negro women were trained 
to wait on the table, to clean the house and to do 
the heavy needlework required for the children 
and negro men on the farm. In some families 
these negro women carded the wool, ran the spin- 
ning-wheel, knitted the socks and, not infre- 
quently, worked the hand loom, for in those slave 
days few manufactured clothes were bought. 
They were made on the farm, largely by negro 
labor. Hence the negress was an important 
factor in the home life of the Southern woman. 
If of agreeable manners, she was much respected 
and beloved by the children on the place. 

I knew a number of these female servants in 
the homes of our old families who were treated 
with almost as much consideration as the children 
of the family. 

A relationship was established through this 
domestic service which brought the servant into 
close contact with the mistress and children of 
the home, — a contact that was mutually ad- 
vantageous, and these servants were trained not 
only to work but often were taught lessons in 
reading and writing as well as religion and morals. 
When the war came almost all of these old family 
servants remained in their old homes, and were 
simply invaluable in the domestic service they 
were able to render. 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN 97 

It soon became evident to our Virginia women, 
in my section at least, that the war meant destruc- 
tion of slavery, and that they would soon be called 
upon to perform all the harder duties of the 
home. 

It has always been a surprise to me to see how 
soon our women, — old and young, — were able to 
adjust themselves to new conditions. As the war 
progressed they were all fired with the same ideals 
of self-sacrifice that inspired the men in arms; 
beginning at once to assume duties and labors that 
had been considered menial before the war. They 
took to carding, spinning, knitting, and weav- 
ing; and they not only dyed the yarn and manu- 
factured the cloth but cut and made wearing ap- 
parel for themselves and for the men and chil- 
dren. This was the rule; and the only excep- 
tions were found in small families with liberal 
means or with those who lived in large communi- 
ties where articles of clothing could be bought. 

Many of our women and girls took a personal 
interest in the garden, in poultry and in the dairy, 
when the occasion required. I have seen small 
girls and boys milking the cows and feeding 
the poultry and small animals on the place — 
children whose parents had never dreamed of such 
a menial service. Yet in doing this the dignity 
and spirit of the child was not lowered. It was 
considered a privilege to make any sacrifice of 



98 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

false pride when the condition of the times re- 
quired it. 

As the war continued these duties became nec- 
essary and entered into the life of all as the out- 
come of the social and political upheaval we 
were passing through. 

Now, while our women were fast adjusting 
themselves to a more active and laborious domes- 
tic service, they were not neglectful of the re- 
finements and culture of the home. They played 
on the piano, sang war songs, and read good litera- 
ture, with as much interest as ever. The hospi- 
tality of the home was as abounding, — if not as 
lavish, — as it had been. We boys and girls of ten- 
der age had our social pleasures and our simple 
sports. When we did not have skates we coasted 
the hill on a plank board with as much fun as 
can be had from a modern sled. When we did 
not have good horses and comfortable saddles we 
rode barebacked or on a blanket on old nags re- 
tired from army service. We found as much 
pleasure in this simple life as our parents had 
experienced under the ease and indulgence of 
slavery before the war. 

The saddest experience which came into our 
home life was the loss of some dear friend in the 
army, for the loss of property, with all its hard- 
ships, was accepted with a stoicism which was al- 
most heroic. I could relate numerous incidents 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN 99 

to illustrate the self-sacrifices and hardships which 
came to many of our women, such as the death 
of husband, father, brother, and lover; but these 
were the fatalities of war which were accepted as 
loyal contributions to the cause of the South. 
These deaths were often pathetic, as where the 
only son of the widowed mother, the father of a 
family of small children, or the accepted lover of 
some noble girl, were killed in battle or died from 
disease or wounds in a hospital far from home. 
Few families in our community escaped these sor- 
rows. They were a common heritage which all 
bore with bleeding hearts but with honest pride 
and loyal fortitude. 

With what painful sorrow do I recall the ex- 
perience of a family, related to me by ties of 
blood and early affections, which gave up the only 
son, the pride and hope of a widowed mother and 
three single sisters, and the accepted lover of a 
noble woman. He had been wounded in battle 
at Williamsburg, and after lingering some weeks, 
he had died in the home of a family in that place. 
While he was on his bed of illness his own home 
in Virginia was surrounded by Federal troops, a 
beautiful estate had been torn to pieces, and the 
greater portion of the live stock had been driven 
away. A younger sister lay ill with typhoid 
fever in the house at the same time, anxiously 
calling out in her delirium for her brother, whose 



loo THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

death was announced to his family a few hours 
before she passed away. In her last lucid mo- 
ments she had seen grief pictured in the face of 
her aged mother and had cried out, "Oh, mother! 
brother is dead ; I must join him." In a few hours 
her spirit had gone to join the noble fellow. 

These two deaths, with all the surrounding cir- 
cumstances, would have destroyed the hopes and 
the happiness of the strongest character; yet this 
widow and her two daughters bore their sorrow 
with a courage equal to that of the Spartan mother 
who preferred to have her son's body borne home 
on a shield rather than live in dishonor. These 
noble women, — mother, sisters and sweetheart, — 
now all gone to rest, came out of the war stripped 
of all their personal property, their lands in com- 
mons and all the farm buildings in ruins. During 
all these troubles their faithful old negro servants 
remained loyal to them and took care of them. I 
know of no family in our section that experienced 
so severely the hardships of war as did this family. 
I know of no instance in all my experience where 
the spirit of noble womanhood stood so high, 
walked so courageously, and bowed with so 
deep reverence before the throne of the Great 
King. 

I am going to relate an incident that goes to 
show just what this family stood for, just what 
struggle it made, and just what spirit and human 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN loi 

character can endure when mind and heart are 
made resolute by misfortune. 

In December, 1863, the oldest daughter of this 
family had by the aid of the negro servants pre- 
pared a large bundle of woolen and cotton yarn 
for the weaver. The yarn had been dyed in dif- 
ferent colors for the making of linsey cloth. As 
the only loom that could weave this yarn was 
located in a section of the county some eight 
or nine miles distant, the problems arose, how to 
get the yarn to the weaver, and how to explain 
the manner of making it into cloth. The lady in 
question decided to make this trip in person on 
horseback, while I and a faithful negro woman 
were selected to accompany her; which we did, 
mounted on old horses, and between us we car- 
ried the yarn tied up in bundles. Our route lay 
across the river which had to be forded. 

When we came to the river, we found it flush 
and its surface covered with floating ice. The 
morning was bitter cold, the road was rough and 
hard frozen, and the trip was one of unusual diffi- 
culty at that season of the year. My father ac- 
companied us as far as the river. The lady and 
the negro woman were carried across the river in 
a small skiff while my father and I forded the 
stream, leading the horses. The water came well 
above the flanks of my horse and the floating ice 
cut keenly, but we got across without mishap. 



102 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The women then mounted their horses and we 
rode to the weaver's home, where the yarn was 
left. That night the two women stopped at the 
home of a relative of the lady while I rode some 
three miles further to the home of a relative, 
where I spent the night. When I was within sight 
of the house, the horse I was riding slipped and 
fell on the ice; but I got her on her feet and led 
her to the house. 

The following morning when I started for 
home the poor animal was so lame that she could 
scarcely walk. I led her six miles back to my 
home that day, walking the distance until I came 
to the river which I forded on her back. I never 
think of this experience without recalling the hard- 
ship it imposed on my two female companions. 
They remained in the country until the weather 
moderated. I was young and tough and bore 
the trip much better than my poor mare that was 
some weeks in getting over her lameness. 

This incident, as simple as it may be, tells the 
story of a refined, delicate and gentle woman, who 
before the war lived in baronial comfort, and had 
under the necessities of the war undertaken the 
work of making a trip into a wild section of the 
country that she might secure the weaving of ma- 
terial to make dresses for her family and servants. 
This is only one of a number of similar experi- 
ences. 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN 103 

To write up this history of the war from my 
point of view, — to tell all that our old men, 
women and children went through, — would re- 
quire an abler and clearer head than I possess. 
I have tried to bring out one fact — that our non- 
combatant population was fired with all the zeal 
and patriotism of the Southern heart, that it went 
into the cruel war and accepted the results, with 
the same motive and unselfish loyalty as inspired 
the men who fought the battles to the end, and 
who either gave up their lives or laid down their 
arms contending for principles they believed to 
be right. 

In duty's path they firmly trod, 
Obedient to their sacred trust ; 
Believing in Almighty God, 
The cause they loved to them was just. 

The severity and length of the war put an enor- 
mous strain on the endurance, loyalty and char- 
acter of our non-combatant population; and the 
way in which this strain was met will ever be 
a credit to the heroic spirit and fortitude of our 
old men, our women, and our young children, — 
a proud legacy to their descendants in coming 
generations. My purpose in writing this story 
of the war is to preserve in historic form the 
records of those stirring times, so that those who 
follow my generation may have a picture of 



104 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

events which actually occurred and may see in the 
lives of their ancestors those qualities of mind and 
heart that go to make character and righteous liv- 
ing the ideals of coming generations. I have al- 
ready stated that the population of my county 
was almost entirely made up of pure English 
blood. The ancestors of our people came into 
Virginia during the Cromwellian period and set- 
tled in the Tydewater section of the State, grad- 
ually moving westward and taking up the lands 
in the Piedmont district along the eastern borders 
of the Blue Ridge, later going across the moun- 
tain into the beautiful and fertile Valley of the 
Shenandoah. The first settlers located in the 
Valley about 1640, and from that time on the 
region west of the Blue Ridge became the home 
of the best blood in the state. The first settlers 
brought with them the social customs and habits 
of the people east of the mountain, and gave to 
the settlement a character of high culture and re- 
finement. Many of these families brought with 
them their negro servants and these negroes be- 
came the progenitors of the negroes of the Valley. 
The institution of slavery introduced into the 
Valley counties represented the highest type of 
slavery; for the scanty settlement and the widely 
separated homes of the people during the Colo- 
nial period brought the master and servant into 
the closest relations of mutual service and help- 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN 105 

ful dependence. In this way the old family serv- 
ant became the intimate friend of the household, 
and was held in warm esteem by master, mistress, 
and all of the children. The descendants of these 
old negroes were handed down from generation 
to generation and made up the negro population 
of the Valley counties. 

There was almost no buying and selling of 
negroes in my section. The traffic in human flesh 
was confined almost entirely to cases of necessity, 
where property interests required a division of 
estates or the necessary payment of debts. 
Through inheritance our negro population in- 
creased with the growth of the white population, 
and as family estates were divided by the death 
of parents the heirs came into the possession of 
the slaves willed to them. This heredity feature 
of slave ownership surrounded the negro with the 
strongest ties of friendship and affection, and gave 
him a position in the family that was often held 
in highest esteem by the servant and engendered 
a deep sense of responsibility in his owner. 

While the negro slave was regarded as a serv- 
ant and a dependent, his feelings and his rights 
were respected and he was treated with considera- 
tion and kindness. His services were made 
valuable to his owner in proportion to the care 
given to his health and training. He was used 
as a laborer in the house and in the field, and his 



io6 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

burdens were no heavier than those imposed upon 
the white laborer, nor sometimes even upon the 
children of his owner. In sickness and in old age 
the slave was kindly cared for. He was well 
clothed and fed and his surroundings were made 
to contribute to his happiness. If there were 
exceptions to this rule they were so uncommon 
as to be classed with the hardships not infre- 
quently imposed upon children by unkind par- 
ents. 

Until the John Brown Raid the negroes in my 
section of Virginia were contented and happy. 
They had expressed no desire for freedom, and 
when, during the war, the opportunity came to 
them to exercise this privilege, less than 20 per 
cent, took advantage of it. The loyalty and de- 
votion of the negro to his owner during the war 
is the best proof of his contentment with his posi- 
tion as a slave. These facts should set at rest 
the tales of calumny heaped upon the slave- 
owners of the South by Northern fanatics. If 
there was a rational ground for the abolition of 
negro slavery, it was to be found in a higher senti- 
ment than was used for his emancipation. Our 
people were not wedded to the institution of 
slavery. 

Since the negro had come to the vast majority 
of our slaveowners by inheritance, these owners 
were no more responsible for this inheritance, 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN 107 

the possession of slaves, than for any other form 
of property. As a domestic institution slavery 
was regarded by many as of greater advantage to 
the negro than to the white race. To them it 
represented a civilizing influence, — an influence 
that was gradually raising an inferior race to a 
higher plane of useful service and that was pre- 
paring the race for the duties of a citizenship that 
would in time make him self-respecting and self- 
supporting when placed in competition with the 
laborer of other races. The people who owned the 
negro fully understood his spirit and nature and 
they saw no advantage to the race from a forced 
freedom from restraint and a sudden investment 
with rights he was not prepared to exercise. 

It was such views as I have mentioned that 
led the slaveowner to resist the spirit of aboli- 
tionism that had swept over the North. It was 
no doubt this same spirit that led the Confederate 
Government to hold on to the institution until 
the end of the war. Neither the people of the 
North nor those of the South fully realized the 
full meaning and intent of this antislavery move- 
ment, and both sections were carried off of their 
feet by emotions that were kindled by passion, 
prejudice and self-interest. The true interests of 
the negro race were lost sight of in the contentions 
over a situation that neither section fully under- 
stood. 



io8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

It has taken fifty years of reconstruction to ad- 
just this racial difficulty, and it is not yet settled 
in a way to satisfy the claims of both races. 
While slavery has been abolished in the sense of 
property interest, the negro is in all those per- 
sonal characteristics which belong to an inferior 
race as much a slave to-day as he was before the 
Civil War. He still struggles in poverty and 
disease; he fills our almshouses, hospitals, and 
jails to a far greater degree than ever was known 
under slavery. It is true that a few of the race 
have risen to useful and deserving positions, have 
accumulated property, and have received educa- 
tional training; but the vast majority, now crowd- 
ing our towns and cities, are as degraded as any 
laboring class can become. Until the ideals of 
the race are based upon racial pride and a desire 
for racial purity and segregation from other races 
the negro will never arrive at a true status of his 
own racial value. He has characteristics and en- 
dowments that should make for his great uplift in 
the world's service and for his own happiness. 
He has energy of body, cheerfulness of spirit, and 
a philosophy of life which make for contentment 
and the highest social enjoyment; and when he 
has learned to live for himself and for his own 
blood, has abandoned the aspirations for a social 
and marital union with other races, and believes 
fully in the destiny of the pure negro blood he 



THE SOUTHERN WOMAN 109 

will have won a victory for his race that may be 
the envy of many of the more favored races. 

The happiness of the negro in slavery grew out 
of his innocence and want of worldly pride. He 
was satisfied with himself and with his surround- 
ings so long as his appetites were gratified and he 
had the freedom of a buoyant life. He was will- 
ing to work and to do hard service; but he loved 
his music and his song, the frivolities and light 
joys of the cabin or of the farm. He was a true 
child of nature and lived close to nature's heart, 
with a love of the wild and picturesque, with a 
touch of that freshness of sympathy and feeling 
for the lower animal world around him ; as shown 
by his love for the horse, the dog, and the small 
animals he often kept as pets. He often personi- 
fied these dumb animals and held imaginary con- 
versations with them. 

At heart the negro slave, as I knew him, was 
seldom cruel. He loved to fish and to hunt but 
seldom was unmerciful. His true nature was 
benevolent, and responded to kindness with deep 
appreciation and loyal gratitude. For that rea- 
son he had the warmest attachment for his owner 
when treated with kindness, and this affection was 
shown in generous attentions to the infant or chil- 
dren of his master. 

I can never forget the love and devotion of 
my father's servants to me as a child, and I want 



no THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

to rescue the memories of these old negroes from 
the obloquies which are so often cast upon the 
race by people who have had little experience with 
the old negro slave. Many of the happiest days 
of my childhood were spent with our old family 
servants and I had quite as much affection for 
them as for some who were related by ties of 
blood. My experience is not an exceptional one. 
There are thousands of men and women in the 
South to-day who can verify every statement I 
Ikhc made, and who treasure the same kind 
recollections of the old family servant that I do. 
I would love to see a monument raised to the 
memory of these old negroes as high as the Eiffel 
Tower. 



CHAPTER X 

THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN. UNDER FIRE 

On May 21, 1862, the positions of the Con- 
federate Army and the Federal in the Shenandoah 
Valley were as follows : 

Stonewall Jackson, with his command, held 
an advanced position at New Market; Ewell, with 
his division, had advanced to Luray in the Page 
Valley. The combined forces under Jackson and 
Ewell numbered nearly 17,000 men, — the largest 
force which Jackson had ever commanded. The 
forces under General Banks had been reduced to 
10,000 men distributed as follows: At Stras- 
burg, about 7,500 infantry, cavalry, and artillery; 
at Winchester, about 1,500 men; at Buckton 
Depot, half-way between Strasburg and Front 
Royal, two companies of infantry were stationed ; 
at Front Royal Colonel Kenly was encamped 
with the First Maryland Federal Regiment, num- 
bering about 1,000 men, and two guns; at Rector- 
town, 19 miles east of Front Royal, General Gary 
was encamped with 2,000 men. 

The railroad from Washington to Strasburg 

had been put in service, and the Federal troops 

were stationed along the line to protect it. 

Ill 



112 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Trains were in daily operation, and large military 
supplies and troops were carried between Wash- 
ington and Strasburg. At Front Roj^al many 
thousands of dollars of military stores, consisting 
of arms, ammunition, clothes and provisions, were 
housed in the depot for distribution. 

The Federal disposition of its troops had been 
arranged with a view to permanent possession of 
the territory then occupied by the Union forces; 
and no disturbance of this arrangement had seem- 
ingly been contemplated by the enemy, if we con- 
sider the results that followed within the next 
few weeks. The object of the Federal authorities 
seemed to have been to hold Jackson in the Valley, 
with as small a force as was possible, and thus 
prevent his union with General Lee in front of 
Richmond. A large number of men, under 
Banks, had been sent from the Valley to reinforce 
McClellan in his attack on Richmond. 

The division under Shields, that had encamped 
in our village from the 14th to the 16th of May, 
was at this time near Fredericksburg, on its way to 
the Peninsula. There seemed to be a total mis- 
understanding of Jackson's strength and purpose 
by the Federals, for their forces in the Valley 
were distributed over a wide territory and were 
located at vulnerable points. The forces at Front 
Royal were utterly insufficient to defend a flank 
movement by way of the Page Valley, and Banks' 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 113 

position at Strasburg was exposed to attack from 
the rear. Banks was evidently acting under the 
assumption that Jackson would advance by the 
main Valley route, and he was prepared to de- 
fend his position in front, without considering 
his weakness from his left flank. It was not Jack- 
son's policy to run up against great difficulties 
that could not be met without great sacrifices. In 
strategy he was bold and resourceful, and he had 
the faculty of doing the very things the enemy did 
not expect. Sending a small body of cavalry 
down the main Valley to produce the impression 
on Banks that the Confederates were advancing 
to assault him in front, Jackson broke camp at 
New Market and crossed the Massanutton moun- 
tain through the Luray Gap into the Page Valley. 
At Luray he joined his forces with those of Ewell 
and on May 22d, 1862, the combined forces 
moved north by the road to Front Royal, and 
that night his men went into camp at Bentonville, 
10 miles south of Front Royal. The next morn- 
ing, — May 23d, — his men were pushed north, and 
early in the afternoon were posted for the attack 
upon Colonel Kenly at Front Royal. 

The movements of Jackson had been so rapid 
and so carefully guarded that the Federal troops 
were taken by surprise when his men drove in their 
pickets and rushed upon the two companies on 
guard duty in the village. There was no time 



114 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

to prepare for defense, and they hurriedly evac- 
uated their camps and ran to join the main com- 
mand on the hill, one mile north of the village, 
where Colonel Kenly, prepared for the assault, 
had drawn up his regiment in line of battle. 

At this point my personal experience may be of 
interest. When firing upon the Federal pickets, 
posted on the two roads leading south from our 
village, began, I, with some half-dozen small bo)'S, 
was taking a bath in the creek that winds east 
and north around the village. We were in a 
pool of water about one half-mile north, — near 
where the railroad bridge crosses the creek. As 
boys usually do, we were busy at the time build- 
ing a stone dam across the creek to deepen the 
water in the pool. The first notice I had of the 
approaching fight was the sight of a man, whom 
we all knew well as a Union sympathizer, run- 
ning at the top of his speed along a path that fol- 
lowed the bank of the stream. We called to him 
to know why he was running so fast. He gave 
no answer; but in a moment we heard the report 
of a musket in the distance and then more rapid 
firing. 

Jumping out of the water, we hastily put on our 
clothes and struck out for the village. When we 
had reached the top of the railroad embankment 
we could see men running wildly through the 
fields and down the pike in the direction of the 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 115 

main command on the hill. I recall a man run- 
ning wildly through a field of wheat, as fast as 
he could go. He was dressed in a Zouave uni- 
form, his bright red clothes, in contrast with the 
green wheat, making his presence all the more 
conspicuous. 

We boys crossed from the railroad to the main 
street and, as my home was south of the village, 
my purpose was to get there as soon as possible, 
not realizing that our house was within the Con- 
federate lines. Running up the main street, I 
turned to the right, through a cross street that 
curved in a crescent to meet the street that ran 
in the direction of my home, and as I turned the 
curve I ran into the lines of the Federal troops, 
retreating down the street. About this time I 
heard the whistle of a bullet that passed by me 
and struck a house near me; so I turned on my 
heels and ran back to the main street, until I 
came to the house of a citizen whom I knew well, 
and there I found a refuge. 

The Federals retreated down the street in great 
disorder, the Confederates following in equal dis- 
order, firing their guns in the most irregular man- 
ner, and yelling and shouting like wild Indians. 
No one was hurt, and the disorder was more like 
a police riot than a fight between soldiers. As the 
Confederates passed the house where I was, a long, 
thin, and feeble-looking fellow, whom I had 



ii6 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

known some months before as a sick man in the 
hospital, fell exhausted on the door-step in front 
of the house. He asked for a drink of water, 
which was given him. In a few minutes he 
jumped up, took his gun, and started to join his 
companions. He was a member of the First 
Maryland Confederate Regiment, which had 
been given the honor of leading the attack upon 
the First Maryland Federal Regiment, under 
Colonel Kenly. 

After the troops had passed the house and we 
were once more within the Confederate lines, I 
ran as fast as my feet would carry me for my 
home. When I reached an open square I met a 
Confederate soldier on horseback, — a man I knew 
well. He recognized me and wanted to know 
what I was doing there, urging me to run home as 
fast as possible and tell my family to get in the 
cellar as the enemy would cannonade the village 
and woods around; then, without waiting for me, 
he turned his horse and rode as fast as he could 
to my home, to give the order himself. He was 
a gallant fellow and was killed in battle in 1 863. 
As I started for my home I could hear the firing 
of artillery by both sides. Between the village 
and my home was an open space of some five 
hundred yards which had to be crossed. When 
I reached the last house, — which stood on the 
street with much open space around it and just 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 117 

across the street opposite a large hospital build- 
ing, now unoccupied, — the artillery firing became 
very alarming to me. The noise and explosion 
of shells could be distinctly heard, and I felt that 
each gunner was looking for me. I saw, sitting 
behind a large locust tree in front of the house, a 
Confederate soldier, who told me I had better 
join him, as the firing was directed at the hospital 
building and at a battery on a hill south, in a 
direct line with us. 

I was so badly frightened that I was glad to 
accept the soldier's offer. In the house lived a 
widow with some five or six small children, — all 
crying in the greatest alarm. For over an hour, — 
and it seemed a week — I sat behind that tree be- 
lieving in my childish fear that every shell was di- 
rected at the old house and tree. While in this 
state of alarm I saw one shell strike a near-by 
tree, a fragment of another shell wound a cow 
grazing in a meadow close to my home, and eight 
or ten shells fall in the yard surrounding my home. 
One large oak tree in front of our house was per- 
forated by a shell that went entirely through it, 
and then exploded. This old tree still stands 
with the scar of war on its body. 

After the artillery firing ceased I went home, 
to find my mother in the greatest alarm about me. 
The family had taken refuge in the cellar, and no 
one was hurt, though one Confederate soldier in 



ii8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the yard had been wounded in the hand by a 
fragment of a shell. 

During the cannonade three Confederate bat- 
teries were playing for over one hour on the Fed- 
eral guns, which did very effective work; for Col- 
onel Kenly put up a brave and stubborn fight, 
and only abandoned his position when outnum- 
bered and outflanked. His men were closely 
pressed and, crossing the river, attempted to fire 
the bridge. The men under General Taylor, of 
the Louisiana Brigade, followed so near that they 
saved the bridge for the Confederates to cross 
on. The Federals retreated in good order until 
dusk, when they were overwhelmed by the cav- 
alry and nearly all were captured. Colonel 
Kenly held his ground until his command was 
completely surrounded, when he was wounded 
and taken prisoner. 

At the close of the fight our village was filled 
to overflowing with Confederate soldiers, while 
large bodies of them pushed on toward Winchester 
and others went into camp along the roadside, or 
wherever the night overtook them. They had 
marched strenuously and were jaded from hard 
work and the heat of the day. There were many 
hungry stragglers, separated from their commands 
by the fatigue of the march, who sought food at 
farmhouses and at homes in the village. 

The return of the Confederates so cheered our 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 119 

people that they opened their hearts and homes to 
the soldiers with joyful welcome and dispensed 
lavish hospitality. The victory won in the after- 
noon was believed to be but the forecast of greater 
success for the Southern cause, and many persons 
went so far as to hope that the war would end 
with the Valley Campaign that Jackson was now 
making. 

At that early stage of the war our people 
had the greatest abundance of food supplies and 
many of the luxuries of peace. In my own home 
the smokehouse and pantry were filled with meat, 
flour, sugar, coffee, eggs, butter, and milk. We 
had Aunt Susan in the kitchen, with other women 
servants to assist her. These negroes went to 
work with as rnuch energy and zeal as my mother 
to cook food for the soldiers as fast as the men 
came for it. 

That afternoon and the following morning my 
mother estimated that she had fed over 300 men. 

Our house was filled with Confederate officers, 
and there were, also, among our guests several dis- 
tinguished citizens in public life, who followed the 
army as lookers-on. At the first evening meal 
after the Federals had been routed, these officers 
and gentlemen around our table were as bright 
and as happy in spirit as it was possible for men 
to be, predicting glorious results from the cam- 
paign. Indeed, one or two were so optimistic as to 



120 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

predict that Jackson would be in Washington be- 
fore the end of another week. They little knew the 
temper and determination of the Northern people, 
and the vast resources of the Federal Government. 
The mistakes of General Banks and of the Secre- 
tary of War at Washington were not properly in- 
terpreted. They were not regarded as mere inci- 
dents of war, — incidents that had only a tem- 
porary influence over the larger policies that the 
Federal Government had inaugurated. One of 
the greatest mistakes our people made was to over- 
estimate the value of our success and to minimize 
the strength and tenacity of purpose of our enemy. 

Jackson pushed on after the battle, trying to 
close in behind Banks at Strasburg, but Banks took 
warning, and during the night he fell back to Win- 
chester. 

On the 24th and 25th of May Jackson drove 
Banks out of Winchester and forced him to cross 
the Potomac. While Jackson was giving heavy 
blows to Banks, and was moving his army by rapid 
marches as far north as Martinsburg and Harper's 
Ferr)^ our village was the seat of great activity. 
The Confederates had captured large supplies in 
the depot, and the authorities made use of much 
of this material ; still, the larger portion of the 
arms and ammunition was not removed into the 
interior as should have been done. There was 
neglect or inefficiency somewhere, and much of 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 121 

these captured goods were lost to the Confederacy 
by a fire that took place a week later when the vil- 
lage again came into the possession of the enemy. 
A small incident occurred at this time that may 
be worth relating, as it throws some light on the 
methods then in vogue in the Union army. The 
evening after the battle of which I have just told, 
an uncle of mine, an officer in one of the cavalry 
regiments, came to our home to see us. He and 
several of his companions, went into the village, 
and in the general excitement, — which was then 
prevalent, due to the capture of prisoners, army 
supplies, horses, and wagons that were brought in, 
— he saw a captured sutler's wagon and took 
charge of it. In examining the contents of the 
wagon he found a large trunk that he pitched out 
to one of his companions, not knowing its con- 
tents. Later, when the trunk was opened, it was 
found to contain 125 silver and gold-plated 
watches, many watch chains, and all kinds of 
cheap jewelry, kept for sale to the soldiers. 
The sutler had escaped. The sutler who fol- 
lowed the army often grew rich by the sale 
of food, dainties, and sundry articles to the 
men in the ranks. His profits were enormous, 
and his risks correspondingly great; for he 
had to credit the men until pay-day, and as many 
were killed or captured, he was seldom able to 
recover all the money due him. 



122 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The morning after the battle the prisoners were 
marched into the village and placed under guard 
until they were removed into the interior. As 
they were all Maryland men, they had friends and 
relatives in the Southern army; in fact, in one in- 
stance, brothers on opposite sides met and ex- 
changed greetings. Civil war has little respect 
for the ties of blood. In a fratricidal strife the 
animosities and passions of kindred are often 
fiercest. These Maryland men in the Federal 
army had encamped in our village and the sur- 
rounding country from May 14th to May 23d. 
They were an orderly and well-behaved set of men 
and had been kind to our people; therefore much 
sympathy was expressed for them in their defeat 
and capture, and many compliments were passed 
on their stubborn resistance and courage against 
great odds. For the Federals had put up a manly 
fight and only yielded when overcome by vastly 
superior numbers. Many of them were captured 
because they were too manly to make their escape. 
This was especially true of Colonel Kenly, their 
commander, who rallied his men, making them 
fight like tigers, until while riding among his 
soldiers, who were mixed in with the Confederates 
all about them, he was wounded in the head with 
a cavalry saber, unhorsed, and captured. 

A more gallant soldier and courteous gentleman 
was not found in either army than J. R. Kenly. 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 123 

Born and raised in Maryland, he had fought with 
distinction in the war with Mexico. In the War 
between the States he sided with the North. A 
Democrat by conviction, after the war he practiced 
law with indifferent success from a financial point 
of view, and though the Federal Government had 
it in its power to render him valuable services 
through political appointments, the party in power 
had no use for a Democrat in public office, no mat- 
ter how valuable his services had been to his coun- 
try. General Kenly, — he rose to that rank, — was 
too proud and spirited to seek or accept political 
favors and in his quiet and dignified way exempli- 
fied the manly and virtuous qualities of the true 
soldier. His great merit has never been properly 
appreciated by his State nor by the nation. Mary- 
land never had a more brilliant soldier. 

When my father learned the following morn- 
ing that Colonel Kenly was a wounded prisoner in 
the village he requested my mother to prepare a 
substantial breakfast for him as he feared that, 
as a prisoner, the Colonel would not receive the 
attention he was entitled to. He had been so kind 
to our citizens while in command of our village 
that my father wished to give some expression of 
his sympathy and esteem now that Colonel Kenly 
was in an unfortunate situation. I accompanied 
my father and carried the waiter with the break- 
fast that my mother had prepared. We found 



124 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the Colonel in a large room, — plainly furnished 
and wanting in real comforts, — on the first floor 
of an unoccupied dwelling. As we entered, by 
permission of the guard at the door, we found 
him in his shirt sleeves, without collar, his head 
tied up with bandages that concealed his wound. 
He was walking the floor like a caged lion and 
seemed to feel his humiliation keenly. My father 
explained to him the nature of his visit and I 
placed the waiter with the breakfast on a table 
for his use when agreeable to him. He expressed 
his appreciation of the kindness and courtesy ex- 
tended to him, and though evidently much out of 
temper when we entered the room, he soon calmed 
down, with the remark that he did not care for 
the wound nor feel unpleasant over his capture, 
but he did resent the way in which he was 
wounded. It seems that in the cavalry charge the 
men were much mixed up. Darkness was coming 
on. Distinctions were not easily made and he had 
been struck with a saber by a private cavalryman 
before his surrender was demanded. Having 
been an officer in the old army, he was punctilious 
about etiquette and thought he had been treated 
with brutality. In a general melee, such as was 
going on, men do not show good manners; every 
man is looking after himself and has little con- 
sideration for the other fellow. So the cavalry- 
man that inflicted the wound most probably did 



THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN 125 

not know that he was making an assault upon an 
officer of high rank. This recalls an incident that 
actually took place between a Federal private and 
a Confederate officer, whom I knew and who was 
distinguished for his eccentricities and absence of 
mind. In a small skirmish, in which the Con- 
federate cavalry was routed, the officer in question 
was following his men in their rush to the rear. 
He did not seem to appreciate the seriousness of 
the situation and was riding along in a slow gal- 
lop, apparently forgetful of the press of the 
enemy. A Federal private rode up and struck 
the officer a mild blow with his saber — just hard 
enough to remove the Confederate's attention 
from his dreams. Turning in his saddle, he re- 
marked to the private, "I am Captain M . 



Don't you know it is disrespectful to strike an 
officer?" The rebuke was so deliberate that it 
quite disconcerted the private, who apologized for 
his rudeness and let his prisoner escape. 

I never saw Colonel Kenly after this interview, 
as he was taken with other prisoners within the 
lines. On his release from prison he returned to 
duty in the army, where he made a successful 
record during the following years of the war. As 
the Southern sentiment largely prevailed in Mary- 
land, his military record has never received the 
high honor it deserved. He lived in comparative 
obscurity in Baltimore until his death a few years 



126 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

ago. As a rebel boy I feel that this tribute is due 
him, for we should honor merit wherever found 
and pay respect to men who live up to the highest 
duties of life. 

During the week following the battle of May 
23d our village was filled with Confederate 
soldiers. The Twelfth Georgia Regiment was or- 
dered into camp near my home to do provost-guard 
duty and to watch the gaps in the Blue Ridge, 
through which the enemy might come to cut off the 
retreat of Jackson by way of the Shenandoah 
Valley. 

In the meantime we knew but little of Jackson's 
movements. The battle of Winchester had been 
fought and Jackson was believed to be invading 
Maryland by way of Harper's Ferry. We knew 
he was dealing with the enemy in his front, but 
had little thought that the enemy on his right and 
left flank could close in on his rear and cut off his 
retreat up the Valley. It did not occur to us that 
Jackson was on the alert for these movements and 
had made all his plans to defeat them. Few of 
our people knew that the Federal army was with- 
in a day's march of our village. 



CHAPTER XI 

WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES. THE BATTLE OF 
PORT REPUBLIC 

On Friday afternoon, May 30th, we were thrown 
into the greatest uneasiness by the sudden break- 
ing up of the camp of the Twelfth Georgia 
Regiment, and its march out of our village. As 
soon as the camp was evacuated a number of men, 
women, and children, — colored and white, — went 
to the site of the camp to pick up all the old plun- 
der and discarded articles left by the soldiers. 
After a camp has been occupied a day or more the 
abandoned grounds are usually covered with old 
junk, and often articles of some value are found. 
The citizens who visited the camp fell heir to 
these abandoned goods. It was not uncommon for 
the Federal troops to leave much valuable truck, 
such as hard tack, old clothes, blankets, boxes, and 
not infrequently old guns and pistols. 

While the camp of the Twelfth Georgia was be- 
ing ransacked by the people of the village, a piece 
of artillery was run up without warning, on a hill 
one mile south, and a shell was thrown into the 
camp. Such running and screaming has seldom 

been heard. The camp was deserted in the 

127 



128 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

twinkling of an eye. In the meantime several 
regiments of cavalry dashed in a wild charge 
through the village and down the pike, in full 
pursuit of the Confederates. 

Just before leaving the village the Confed- 
erates had set fire to the depot, and while the 
charge was being made the depot was in flames. 
To make the pandemonium worse and more ter- 
rifying to our people a violent thunderstorm came 
up. And while the rain dashed, the thunder 
crashed, and the lightning flashed from the dark- 
ened heavens, the fire in the depot raged and the 
cavalry charged down the pike. It seemed for the 
time being that the demons from the lower world 
had broken loose, that we were to be overwhelmed 
by the enemy, by the fire, and by the violence of 
nature. The happiness and hopes of the previous 
week were cast down, and we were again in the 
hands of the enemy. The Confederates had de- 
serted us and in doing so had threatened the de- 
struction of our village by setting fire to the depot. 
But for the rush of the Federal troops, who fought 
the spread of the fire, and the copious downpour 
of rain, the place would have been wiped out. 
Our enemies and the bounty of nature saved us 
from a general conflagration. 

Some of our citizens were outspoken in their 
criticisms of the Confederate authorities for not 
removing all of the captured goods from the depot. 



WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES 129 

There was ample time to do so, and valuable prop- 
ert}' was lost through someone's inefficiency. 
The Federal cavalry that charged after the Con- 
federates, came upon the Twelfth Georgia about 
two miles north of the village. That regiment 
had taken a strong position that commanded the 
pike where it ran by the side of a hill, lined on 
one side by a high precipice and on the other by 
a steep incline. As the Federal cavalry charged 
down the road a volley was poured into its ranks, 
nine men were killed, a number wounded, and the 
remainder scattered in wild confusion. There 
were no casualties among the Georgians, who re- 
treated now to Winchester and there joined Jack- 
son. 

That evening and the following day the Federal 
troops under McDowell and Shields poured into 
our village and the fields about and went into 
camp. In less than twenty-four hours there were 
20,000 men encamped within a radius of five 
miles, — more than Jackson had in his entire com- 
mand, which was now scattered from the Potomac 
to Strasburg, 12 miles west of our village on the 
Valley pike, less than a day's march from either 
McDowell on the east or Fremont on the west. 
Apparently all that the Federal generals had to do 
was to close in on Jackson's rear and capture his 
army. As "the best laid schemes o' mice and 
men gang aft a-gley" we will see later that the 



130 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

dexterity and energy of Jackson were more than 
a match for the strategy of the Federals. 

On the morning of May 31st, — the day follow- 
ing the evacuation of our village by the Confed- 
erates, — who should come to our home but the 
same colonel of the Pennsylvania regiment who 
had been our guest during General Shields' en- 
campment (May 14-16). He had returned with 
General Shields' division, which was now in camp 
near us. We were glad to welcome him and gave 
him a room in our home. During the same day 
General Carroll, of Shields' Division, and General 
Duryee, of McDowell's Corps, asked to be enter- 
tained in our home. General Carroll was accom- 
panied by his wife and a little girl. The mem- 
bers of General Duryee's large staff were quartered 
in the yard, but took meals at our table, for we had 
an abundance of food and a number of negroes 
for domestic service. Through the courtesy of 
General Duryee my mother was given an order 
on the Quartermaster for any additional supplies 
needed ; and Uncle Lewis would go to camp daily 
and get fresh meat, groceries, and canned goods. 
For over two weeks we had these officers in our 
home, with the exception of General Carroll, who 
joined his command on June 1st. 

Our community was now a hive of martial ex- 
citement and military operations. Some 20,000 
men were in camp, and, with the exception of Gen- 



WITHIN THE FEDER.\L LINES 131 

eral Shields' Division, all were idle. When 
Shields reached our village on Saturday morning, 
May 31st, he had ample time to move west to 
Strasburg and take a position in the rear of Jack- 
son's line of retreat; but for some reason he wasted 
the entire day and did not move until Sunday 
morning. 

An incident that took place at our breakfast 
table on Sunday morning fully illustrates the sit- 
uation. I will relate it as it actually occurred 
and as I heard and saw it. Though only 13 years 
of age at the time it is still fresh in my memory 
to-day, for I have written and related it a num- 
ber of times. 

Sunday morning, June 1st, was a most beautiful 
day. The heavens were clear, the atmosphere was 
mild and balmy, the flowers were in bloom, and 
the birds sang sweetly in the trees around the 
house. All nature smiled with peace and happi- 
ness, and only man was vile and cruel. Seated at 
the breakfast table in my home were my parents, 
Colonel McDowell, General Carroll and his wife, 
General Duryee and his staff, and Dr. Mercer, an 
old physician, the uncle of Mrs. Carroll who ac- 
companied her so that she would not be lonely 
when General Carroll was attending to his military 
duties. I, the only child present, sat at my 
mother's side. While the meal was being served 
and all were conversing animatedly, we heard the 



132 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

slow firing of artillery in the distance. Each dis- 
charge became more and more distinct, and the re- 
ports of muskets mingled with the roll of artillery, 
indicated a general engagement on the Valley pike 
in the neighborhood of Cedar Creek. Attention 
was soon called to the cannonade and remarks 
were made by the officers present suggesting the 
probable cause of the firing. They decided that 
the engagement was between the forces of Fre- 
mont and Jackson, — 12 miles west, on the Valley 
pike. As General Carroll had instructions to join 
his command that morning at 9 o'clock and march 
west to Strasburg, he volunteered to explain the 
situation. 

He told us that General Shields would march 
with his division to Strasburg to take a position in 
the rear of Jackson, who, with his advance, was 
at that time near Winchester, 19 miles north of 
Strasburg, in full retreat up the Valley. Shields 
had a distance of 12 miles to cover, while Jackson 
had 19 miles, and his men were widely scattered. 
The artillery firing, he said, was between some of 
Jackson's cavalry, which was trying to hold in 
check the advance of Fremont from the west, and 
Fremont's men, who were trying to reach the 
Valley pike. He remarked, with some brusque- 
ness and braggadocio, that Shields and Fremont 
would unite their forces at Strasburg by 12 o'clock 
and close in behind Jackson, thus cutting off the 



WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES 133 

retreat of the Confederates. Turning to my 
mother, he said : 

"This means, Mrs. Ashby, that before midday 
we will have Jackson bagged, and the backbone 
of the Confederacy will be broken." 

As there was apparently more truth than poetry 
in General Carroll's remarks, my mother's eyes 
filled with tears, and she excused herself from the 
table. After she had left General Duryee, a most 
courtly gentleman, remarked to General Carroll 
that his remarks had wounded my mother's feel- 
ings; and he tried to apologize to my father for 
an apparent boldness of speech that had no serious 
meaning. 

Very soon the company arose from the table. 
General Carroll took leave of his wife, mounted 
his horse, and left to join his command that was to 
march at 9 o'clock for Strasburg. General Dur- 
yee and staff also mounted their horses and rode 
away to their command. 

Mrs. Carroll retired to her room to worry over 
General Carroll's departure for active service. 
Dr. Mercer took a stroll around the lawn, while 
my father. Colonel McDowell, and I went out on 
the front porch. We could distinctly hear the 
cannon booming on the pike and the direction of 
the firing was gradually moving south, indicating 
that the Confederates were holding their ground. 
Colonel McDowell, turning to my father, re- 



134 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

marked that General Carroll had stated that 
Shields and Fremont would unite their forces by 
12 o'clock and bag Jackson, but that he did not 
believe one word of it. Then he said, with an 
emphasis and feeling that impressed me greatly : 

"I hope to God that Jackson will lick them." 

Taking a chair, he sat down and drew me to his 
lap, took a silver watch out of his pocket, and put 
it on me, with these words: 

"Keep this watch, my son, to remember me. I 
bought it for rough use when I entered the army. 
I have a gold watch at home." 

He then said to my father that he had his 
resignation in his pocket, and was no longer in the 
service of the Government, and added: "When 
I return home I will resume my editorial duties 
and will oppose the policy of the Administra- 
tion, — its purpose to overthrow the institution of 
slavery. I am a Union man, not an abolition- 
ist." 

It would be as difficult for me to forget the 
words of Colonel McDowell as to forget his kind- 
ness. He remained with us for several weeks and 
seemed loth to part with us. After his return to 
his home he resumed his editorial duties and the 
next time we heard of him he was a prisoner in 
Fort Warren, for his denunciation of the policies 
of the Government. After the close of the war 
he wrote to my father that he had been persecuted 



WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES 135 

and financially ruined by his war experiences. I 
still have the watch he gave me. 

A few hours after this episode while sitting on 
the portico we saw a large body of Federal troops 
marching up the pike, coming in from the direction 
of Strasburg. These troops proved to be those of 
Shields, which had been ordered that morning to 
close in on the rear of Jackson and unite with 
Fremont. 

After Shields had marched some four miles in 
the direction of Strasburg he met a body of Con- 
federate cavalry that fired into his front column 
and arrested his advance. He then ascertained 
that the main body under Jackson had reached 
Strasburg during the night and early morning, had 
driven back the advance of Fremont, and was safe 
from the bag that General Carroll had spread for 
him. By forced marches and energetic action he 
made good his retreat from Winchester with all 
his men, captured goods, prisoners, and supplies, 
losing not a wagon nor a gun. 

General Shields now reversed his order of 
march, and by one o'clock was moving south by 
the Page Valley, to try and get in Jackson's rear 
at New Market. Jackson retreated slowly up the 
Valley, followed by Banks in his rear, Fremont 
on his right flank, and Shields on his left. When 
he reached Harrisonburg he came to a halt and 
waited for the advance of Fremont and Banks; 



136 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

he then took a position at Cross Keys and waited 
for an assault of the enemy. 

On the 8th of June Jackson defeated the Fed- 
erals under Fremont and the following day he 
crossed the south branch of the Shenandoah and 
at Port Republic gave battle to the army under 
General Shields, After a hard and bloody fight 
he defeated Shields and forced him to retreat 
north by the same route along which he had ad- 
vanced. The brigade commanded by General 
Carroll was engaged in the battle of Port Re- 
public and suffered heavy losses. A few- days 
later General Carroll returned from the front and 
as he passed my home, where Mrs. Carroll was 
still staying, he sent a courier to the house with 
the following message: 

"Tell Mrs. Carroll to join me in Washington. 
Tell Mrs. Ashby that old Jackson gave us hell." 

He was tired, his clothes were torn and muddy, 
and his morale completely broken. In his piti- 
able condition he had not the courage to face 
either his heart-sick wife or my mother, though 
he ]:)assed within one hundred yards of the house. 
He hurried to the depot and took the first train 
for Washington. This was the last we ever saw 
of General Carroll. Mrs. Carroll, a pitiful little 
woman tied to a great big bear, joined her hus- 
band a few days later. 

Shields retreated north by the Page Valley, 



WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES 137 

and Fremont and Banks followed the main Val- 
ley. Their forces were demoralized by the rough 
experiences they had had in following Jackson. 
When Shields reached our village his men were 
worn out, ragged, and half starved. He had 
taken little time for rest, for he thought that 
Jackson was following on his rear. He was pur- 
sued by a small body of cavalry that kept an- 
noying him until he was safe under the wings of 
McDowell, who was still encamped near our vil- 
lage. 

After the battles of Cross Keyes and Port Re- 
public, Jackson withdrew his army to a safe en- 
campment near Mt. Meridian. Here he rested 
his men for five days, then he crossed the moun- 
tain and took the railroad that carried his army 
to within easy reach of Richmond, where he 
joined his forces with those of General Lee to 
fight the battles of the Peninsula, — battles that re- 
sulted in the defeat and retreat of the army un- 
der McClellan. 

On May 19th, Stonewall Jackson had begun his 
Valley Campaign, — a campaign that resulted in 
a brilliant success for the Southern cause. With 
the defeat of Fremont on June 8th and of 
Shields on June 9th, he had been on the march 
for 23 days; had covered nearly 200 miles; had 
driven Banks across the Potomac; had withdrawn 
McDowell's forces from Fredericksburg, where 



138 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

they were on their way to reinforce McClellan 
before Richmond; had seized valuable supplies 
at Front Royal, Winchester, and Martinsburg, 
and at length, although surrounded on three sides 
by 60,000 men, had escaped the snares set for him 
and brought off his prisoners and captured goods 
without losing a wagon. And he had done all 
this with a comparatively small loss of men. 
The battle of Port Republic was his most costly 
victory, but its results were so brilliant that it was 
a fitting close to a scene of warfare that will live 
in history with the great campaigns of the world. 
It raised the fame of Jackson to the highest pin- 
nacle of military renown, giving him a position 
among the greatest soldiers of the age. 

Having followed Jackson to his union with 
Lee before Richmond, I must now return to the 
situation of affairs as they were presented in my 
own home. 

After the battle of Port Republic the Federal 
troops were encamped in and near our village 
until about the 2oth of June. During the greater 
part of this time we lived in daily expectation of 
an attack from the Confederate forces. The 
Federals were kept in anxious suspense, since 
Jackson's whereabouts were not known. Strong 
guard was kept on the outposts, and every 
preparation was made for an attack. Jackson's 
union with Lee was not known until the engage- 



WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES 139 

ment with McClellaii on the Chickahominy was 
announced. Large bodies had been retained in 
the Valley to protect Washington, and he had 
slipped quietly across the mountain to cooperate 
with Lee. 

During the ten days following the defeat of 
Shields at Port Republic my home was filled with 
Federal officers. General Duryee and staff were 
still with us and Colonel McDowell still remained 
a guest in our home. In addition to these guests, 
we had two wounded officers, — one Federal and 
one Confederate. The Federal officer was a 
German of General Shields' staff, who had been 
shot in the face at Port Republic. He was a 
handsome, dashing fellow, quite popular with 
his companions, — an officer in the German army, 
we were told, on leave of absence, who had joined 
the Federal army to learn some of the methods of 
American warfare. He was severely punished 
for his curiosity, for his face was badly scarred 
by a rebel bullet. 

A singular circumstance took place in connec- 
tion with his stay in our home. While confined 
to his room one afternoon a young woman, ac- 
companied by a German officer, and riding a 
spirited horse, dashed up to the front door of the 
house. She sprang from her horse, rushed into 
the house, and asked the servant where she could 
find the wounded officer. When told where he 



140 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

lay, she rushed upstairs and, without ceremony, 
entered his room. This woman was the then cele- 
brated Belle Boyd. Her history in brief may 
not be wanting in interest. 

She was a well-bred woman, — a native of one 
of the northern counties of the State, and at that 
time had relatives in our village, with whom she 
was temporarily staying. She had developed a 
strong interest in military matters, and, posing as 
a Rebel spy and heroine, she had already at- 
tracted considerable notice by her exploits; but 
she was not taken seriously by either the Federals 
or the Confederates. Though professing warm 
allegiance to the South, she played with both 
sides a game that inspired no confidence in either, 
hence she lived in either camp as it suited her pur- 
pose and, as far as I know, was never under ar- 
rest. At the time I speak of she was in the 
Federal lines and was receiving marked attentions 
from the young Federal officers. On May 22 d 
she had ridden into the Confederate lines and had 
given Jackson information that proved to be un- 
reliable. 

When she rode up to my home to see the 
wounded German officer she was playing the game 
of flirt and lowering the dignity of her sex. She 
was a young woman of some personal beauty, 
vivacious, attractive, and spirited in manner, and 
a skilled rider of spirited horses. Nor was she 



WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES 141 

wanting in energy, dash, and courage; but she 
had none of the genius, inspiration, and religious 
fervor of the true heroine. She loved notoriety 
and attention, and was as far below the standard 
of the pure and noble womanhood of the South 
as was a circus rider. Her own sex in the South 
repudiated her, and the true manhood of both 
armies was as suspicious of her character as 
Frederick the Great was of Madame de Pompa- 
dour. So much for Belle Boyd. Her heroism 
has long faded into the forgetfulness of her gen- 
eration. She has found no decent place in his- 
tory. 

The wounded Confederate officer in our house 
at that time, Captain Driver, has a most pathetic 
history. At the battle of Port Republic he was 
wounded in the eye by a spent bullet, and the 
wound came very near destroying the vision in 
both eyes. He was captured and as a prisoner 
was on parole in our home. Just how he came to 
us I do not remember but in some way he at- 
tracted the sympathy of the Federals and was 
given the freedom of a private house. He had 
with him his adopted son, Arthur Waugh, a boy 
of 18 years, — who accepted capture to wait on his 
parent, who was so blind as to require someone 
to lead him around. Captain Driver was kept 
blindfolded or in a dark room by the Federal 
surgeon who attended him. He suffered greatly 



142 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

and aroused much sympathy by his patient, gentle 
manners and almost helpless condition. He re- 
mained with us until the Federal army evacuated 
the village, when he was carried to Washington. 
The recollection of this wounded Confederate of- 
ficer made a deep impression on me, and after he 
left our home I often tried to find him. I had 
forgotten his name, but I remembered that he was 
a captain in a Louisiana regiment. A few years 
ago I wrote to the New Orleans Times-Democrat 
and made inquiry about Captain Driver, giving 
the facts about his wound and capture. The edi- 
tor of the paper worked up the case for me and 
published the story as I have related it. It found 
its way into the notice of the boy Arthur, who 
was then living in New Orleans. I was soon put 
in possession of the facts, and learned that Cap- 
tain Driver had returned home at the close of the 
war, and died in 1873. 



CHAPTER XII 

FEDERAL OFFICERS IN MY HOME 

While the Federal troops were encamped around 
our village, waiting for an attack by Stonewall 
Jackson, General Duryee and staff were still 
guests in my home. The General was a man of 
great courtesy and kindness of heart, and rendered 
my mother a service that was greatly prized dur- 
ing the next two years of the war. In a conversa- 
tion on the conduct and extent of the war he 
remarked that it would be a long and bitter 
struggle, one that would severely test the strength 
and endurance of both North and South. He 
stated that he knew the temper of the people of 
the North and their determination to restore the 
Union, and that he also knew the courage and 
spirit of the people of the South and their deter- 
mination to prolong the war until their resources 
were exhausted or victory crowned their efforts. 
He explained that because of this, great distress 
would come to the Southern people through de- 
struction of life and property, and their inability 
to secure the necessaries of life. 

He advised my mother to take advantage of 
an offer he was then able to make. He urged her 

143 



144 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

to make out a list of such articles of domestic 
use as a lady would need in her housekeeping for 
two or three years and then said he would send 
to Washington and have these goods forwarded 
to him. Acting upon this generous suggestion, 
my mother made up a list of supplies, which were 
soon brought by rail and delivered to her by Gen- 
eral Duryec. In this list were barrels of sugar, 
sacks of coffee and salt, cans of tea and all kinds 
of condiments. In addition, there were cotton 
goods, calicoes, needles and thread, and other 
articles of domestic use. The goods were stored 
in pantry, garret, and cellar for future consump- 
tion. At that time gold and silver were in cir- 
culation and my mother had sufficient money to 
pay for these goods; but it so happened that by 
this forethought my home was supplied with ne- 
cessities until the close of the war, and that we 
were able to give to the sick and needy the lux- 
uries not easily secured in time of conflict. As 
it was, toward the end of the war flour and corn- 
meal were difficult to be had, and we lived on 
unbolted flour. 

General Duryee was reputed to be a man of 
wealth; and his generosity, his bearing, and his 
equipment indicated this. His uniforms, horses, 
saddles, and military trappings were very hand- 
some and elaborate, which probably accounted for 
his having acquired the nickname of the "Band- 



OFFICERS IN MY HOME 145 

box General." His staff was made up of a num- 
ber of handsome young men, evidently of high so- 
cial standing, all natives of New York City. Up 
to that time he had not seen hard fighting, and his 
men had more the appearance of being on dress 
parade than of being rough soldiers. His sub- 
sequent war record was most creditable, and he 
was lacking in neither dash nor courage. At 
Antietam his horse was killed under him, and at 
Bull Run he was severely wounded. 

In General Duryee's command was a regiment 
of New York Zouaves that presented a striking 
appearance, with their bright red coats, red 
turbans, and white leggins. This uniform was 
soon discarded by the men who did the fighting, — 
for it was too showy and made good targets for 
our rebel bullets. 

When General Duryee was taking leave of my 
mother he delivered to her care a very handsome 
dress sword in a gold-mounted scabbard, with 
Damascus steel blade. He told her that in 1859 
this sword had been presented to him by the State 
of Virginia on the occasion of the unveiling of 
the Henry Clay monument in the Capitol grounds 
at Richmond, when he was colonel of a New 
York regiment that was being entertained by the 
citizens of Richmond. He explained that as he 
was now in arms against the State of Virginia he 
desired to leave this sword with a citizen of Vir- 



146 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

ginia until the war was ended, when he would 
request its return. He handed my mother a note 
with the sword explaining how it came into her 
possession. This sword remained in our home 
until after the war when it was returned to Gen- 
eral Duryee at his request, as the following letters 
will show, 

„ , New York, Feb. Cth, 1866. 

Mr. Ashby. 

Dear Sir: During the campaign of Mc- 
Dowell in your vicinity I was fortunately quar- 
tered in your hospitable mansion. When about to 
leave I gave in charge to your wife my dress 
sword, which she promised to retain for me. 

Will you do me the favor to inform me how 
I can obtain it, and if communication is open to 
W^ashington by rail*? Hoping you are all well, 
and with my kindest regards to Mrs, Ashby, I am 

Truly yours, 
3 East 38th Street, A. Duryee. 

New York. 

On the above letter is the marginal note in my 
father's handwriting: "Answered February 15th, 
1866." 

New York, Feb. 28th, 1866. 
Thos. N. Ashby, Esq. 

My Dear Sir: Your favor is now before 
me, and I sincerely appreciate your kindness in 



OFFICERS IN MY HOME 147 

preserving for me my sword. The answer made 
by Mrs. Ashby when I placed it in her charge 
made a lasting impression, and I told my family 
that, whatever transpired, I was sure eventually 
to get the sword. I deeply sympathize with you 
in your losses. I am familiar with many cases of 
the same character. One family by the name of 
Richards at Cloud's Mills, whose mansion was 
my Headquarters, during our stay treated us with 
open-hearted hospitality so characteristic of the 
Virginians. After I left other troops took pos- 
session. The newcomers ruthlessly swept every- 
thing off of the place, — even the bams were torn 
down and burnt, — and the family was left in 
penury and want. I took them provisions, and 
never felt happier in my life, in relieving the wants 
of this noble family. 

I am happy to inform you that my brother and' 
self are well. My brother was severely wounded 
at Antietam. He is now Deputy Collector of the 
Port of Fernandina, Florida. I was slightly 
wounded three times at Bull Run, and my horse 
was shot under me at Antietam. 

Now, my friend, I do not wish to put you to 
the least trouble or inconvenience, but if at any 
time you can conveniently send the sword to Mr. 
Robert B. Coleman, proprietor of the Eutaw 
House, Baltimore, Md., I shall feel under renewed 
obligations. 



148 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Present my regards to Mrs. Ashby and my best 
wishes for her happiness, and accept the same for 
yourself. 

If at any time I can reciprocate your kindness 
do not fail to ask it. Possibly you have claims 
against the Government. Can I be of any service 
to you? 

I cordially invite you and Mrs. Ashby to my 
home ; and if at any time you come to New York 
do not fail to let me know on your arrival. I 
reside at No. 3 East 38th Street, one door from 
5th Avenue. My office is Cor. of Jefferson and 
Cherry Str. 

Yours, with high respect, 

A. DURYEE. 

Soon after General Duryee left we took leave 
of all the Federal officers in our home. The 
Federal army evacuated our village, the railroad 
trains were withdrawn, and we were tor several 
weeks in free communication with the Confederate 
lines. The bo3^s in grey made frequent visits to 
their homes, and the domestic life of our people 
was tranquil. The Confederates had been victori- 
ous on the Peninsula, Richmond was safe, and the 
cause looked more hopeful. 

While the Federal troops were encamped 
around our village a number of incidents took 
place that may be worthy of notice, since they 



OFFICERS IN MY HOME 149 

show the spirit and disposition of our negro serv- 
ants and the cordial relations still existing be- 
tween master and slave. My father's servants 
had been exceedingly loyal and faithful. Uncle 
Lewis had taken charge of the land, looked after 
the crops and such live stock as we had left, and 
was most efficient in his work. He had in his 
room, — collected from the camps as they were 
abandoned, — an enormous supply of old junk that 
had been discarded by the troops. Among other 
items he had several barrels of hard-tack, which 
made excellent food for hogs and poultry. This 
article of diet stood in bad repute with the soldier, 
and seemed to have been repudiated, when it was 
possible to escape its use. In all the abandoned 
camps where it had been supplied to the Federal 
troops as a ration it could be found strewn over 
the ground and wasted in the most lavish manner. 
Soldiers in camp are usually indisposed to live 
on strict army rations, if it is possible to get other 
food; and as the Federal troops were paid regu- 
larly in gold or silver they had spending money, 
which they used freely for the purchase of food 
and luxuries that were not on the army bill of 
fare. 

The sutlers, who followed the army, supplied 
many of these luxuries; but when the men were 
in camp for a few days they would wander through 
the villages and farmhouses in search of milk, 



150 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

bread, cakes, pies and fruits. During the first two 
years of the war they willingly paid for these 
things; but later they pillaged and appropriated 
whatever could be found. The only limit to theii 
thefts was the absence of the things desired. They 
often wantonly took property of no use to them 
and destroyed it in a spirit of vindictiveness. 
Later in this story I will give some account of 
these acts of vandalism and barbarity, but I must 
not anticipate. The acts of 1862 were orderly 
and considerate of private property, and the men 
who were encamped on our lands and often stayed 
in our homes were princely gentlemen in compari- 
son with those who came later. 

During the spring and summer of 1862 our 
people were treated, — except in rare instances, — 
as kindly by the Federals as by the Confederates 
so far as private rights were concerned. Whilst 
they camped on our lands and burned fences and 
old buildings they did not destroy growing crops 
or those gathered in barns and granaries. Our 
homes were protected by guards and the smoke- 
house, poultry yard, and pantry were safe from 
pillage. When our home was filled with Federal 
officers we had the greatest abundance of food 
supplies and plenty of servants to prepare and 
serve it. 

Old Aunt Susan, our cook, was most energetic 
and faithful; she attended to the poultry, to the 



OFFICERS IN MY HOME 151 

dairy, and the kitchen, and soon found many op- 
portunities to profit by the situation. The men 
from the camps began to come to the house to get 
milk, butter, and eggs. With my mother's per- 
mission, Susan was allowed to employ her spare 
time in baking bread, pies, and cakes which she 
sold at good prices; and in a few months the 
crafty old negress had accumulated a handsome 
pile of gold and silver which she carefully 
guarded. Indeed, at the close of the war she had 
saved so considerable a sum that she purchased 
a home in the village, in which she lived until her 
death. 

All the servants around our home fared well 
at this time, as they were generously tipped by 
the officers. The same may be said of many 
others who were able to take advantage of the op- 
portunities that were presented for money-making 
out of the Federal troops. These opportunities 
all disappeared after 1862, and during the follow- 
ing years of the war our people, — white and 
colored, rich and poor, — were subjected to many 
hardships and privations. The temper of the 
enemy had changed, and the policy of the Federal 
Government had hardened to a brutality toward 
innocent men, women, and children, whose only 
crime was that they were loyal to the Southern 
cause and gave encouragement to the men of their 
blood, who were fighting for their independence. 



152 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

As the greater number of our negroes still remained 
with their owners they bore the hardships of war 
with equal spirit and endurance. These faith- 
ful servants were often the mainstay of their 
owners, for they cultivated the crops and raised 
what food supplies our people had to live on. 



CHAPTER XIII 

SUCCESS OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA 

The defeat of McClellan on the Peninsula gave 
rise to a new movement that soon led to the with- 
drawal of the Federal forces from northern Vir- 
ginia. General Lee withdrew his army from the 
defense of Richmond and on July i6th instructed 
Stonewall Jackson to move north to Gordons- 
ville, and from that place to advance to Madison 
Court House. General Pope, in command of the 
Federal army of 40,000 men, was located near 
Culpeper Court House, with his outpost at the 
Rapidan River. Pope showed great activity and 
issued bombastic reports to his army of what he 
proposed to do to the Confederates, not disguising 
his hostile criticisms of McClellan's defeat on the 
Peninsula. With his "Headquarters in the Sad- 
dle," he pushed forward to attack Jackson's ad- 
vance from Gordonsville. Some of his cavalry 
had passed around the east side of Gordonsville 
and had reached Hanover Court House, where 
they were repulsed by General J. E. B. Stuart's 
cavalry. 

Jackson urged Lee to send him reinforcements 
from Richmond, and when it became clear to Lee 

153 



154 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

that Richmond was safe from an assault from Mc- 
Clellan he moved the greater number of his men 
to join Jackson and press north toward Washing- 
ton. It was then announced that the policy of the 
Confederate Government was to make an advance 
into Maryland, and in this way draw McClellan's 
army from in front of Richmond. Both Lee and 
Jackson were advised as to the strength and posi- 
tion of the Federal army occupying the territory 
between the Rapidan and Potomac. They also 
sized up the character of Pope, and determined to 
deal him a blow that would silence his bragga- 
docio and bold assumption of superiority over 
McClellan. Pope was the first of the Federal 
officers to order his troops to subsist upon the 
country and to hold the citizens responsible for all 
damages done to roads, railways, and telegraph 
lines by guerillas. He also ordered his generals to 
arrest every citizen within the limits of their lines, 
to administer the oath of allegiance to the Union, 
and to expel from their homes all who refused to 
take it. 

"The Confederate Government retaliated by 
declaring that Pope and his officers were not en- 
titled to be considered as soldiers. If captured 
they were to be imprisoned as long as their orders 
remained unrepealed and, in the event of any un- 
amied citizens being tried or shot, an equal num- 



SUCCESS OF THE ARMY 155 

ber of Federal prisoners were to be hanged." ^ 
This put a check for a time upon a brutal policy 
that began to war upon innocent people. 

Pope was greatly aided by the energy and enter- 
prise of his cavalry, under General Buford and 
General Bayard, which annoyed the Confederates 
by raids within their lines. Jackson watched the 
movements of Pope with quiet patience. He had 
at this time a force of 24,000 men to oppose an 
army of 47,000. It was Jackson's purpose to 
draw Pope forward and separate him as far as pos- 
sible from Washington and his lines of communi- 
cation. He retired beyond Gordons ville, having 
been reinforced by the army under Lee and A. P. 
Hill. On August 3d General McClellan moved 
his command, by order of General Halleck, — then 
the newly selected adviser of the War Department 
in Washington, — from the James to the Rappa- 
hannock at Fredericksburg. On August 6th Pope 
began to move south to attack Jackson at Gordons- 
ville, but on the 7th Jackson advanced north to 
Orange Court House to oppose Pope. On Au- 
gust 8th Ewell's Division, in the advance, crossed 
the Rapidan and was within 18 miles of Culpep- 
er Court House, where Pope had concentrated his 
forces. 

On the afternoon of the 9th Ewell's Division, 

1 Henderson. 



156 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

in the advance, reached Slaughter Mountain, 
where it ran into a force of Federal cavalry that 
was massed on the banks of Cedar Run. Before 
three o'clock the Confederate lines had advanced, 
and a general engagement was brought on. The 
battle of Slaughter Mountain was hotly contested 
by the Federals but resulted in a victory for the 
Confederates. The loss on both sides was very 
heavy. In some 90 minutes 3,000 men had 
fallen. 

At 5 o'clock the Federals left the field. Jack- 
son soon learned from his prisoners that the men 
who opposed him were the same he had fought in 
the Valley. As Jackson was greatly outnumbered 
by the reinforcements that had come to Pope, he 
quietly withdrew behind the Rapidan. This 
movement so encouraged Pope that he claimed a 
victory and announced that this was only the first 
of a series of victories that awaited his army. 
The facts were that he was thoroughly done up by 
Jackson and did not make an advance on the 10th 
and 1 ith of August. 

In the battle of Slaughter Mountain a gallant 
major of a Virginia regiment was killed leading 
a charge. He was a native of our village, but 
before the war had moved to a distant county in 
our State. He entered the army and by his gal- 
lantry was promoted to the rank of major. Had 
he lived longer he no doubt would have reached 



SUCCESS OF THE ARMY 157 

a much higher grade. I have distinct recollec- 
tions of his handsome and striking bearing as a 
young man. When I was a small boy my parents 
boarded in the home of his widowed mother, who 
by her kindness had won my affections. He had 
a number of near relatives in our county who were 
sorrowed by his death. 

In the same hght a relative of mine, a brave 
lieutenant in a Virginia company, had his leg car- 
ried away by a shell. This incapacitated him for 
active service during the remainder of the war; 
and though after the war he graduated in medicine 
and practiced his profession with success, he was 
always greatly handicapped by his misfortune. 
He labored hard and unselfishly in his profession 
for many years until called to join his companions 
in arms who had crossed the river before him. 

When Jackson withdrew behind the Rapidan 
he had a distinct purpose in view. He hoped to 
draw Pope after him; he wished to rest and 
strengthen his forces, and he had under considera- 
tion a plan of flanking Pope and getting between 
him and Washington. He had the enemy dis- 
turbed by his actions, as it was uncertain what he 
would do. McClellan wrote to Halleck, "He will 
suddenly appear, when least expected." His 
movements were too unreliable for the comfort of 
Pope and the Federal authorities. 

When the Confederates were quiet the North 



158 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

was anxious. Wall Street was the barometer. 
Stocks fell and the premium on gold advanced. 
Pope's so-called victory at Slaughter Mountain 
had only given rest to the army; it had given no 
assurance that Jackson had been vanquished. Mc- 
Clellan had been allowed to move his army from 
the Peninsula, as fast as transports could carry it, 
to the defence of Washington. 

On August 19th the exact position of the Fed- 
eral armies was known. The following day Jack- 
son, with three divisions, broke camp at Gor- 
donsville and marched north to Pisgah Church. 
Lee had moved his forces from the defence of 
Richmond and had reached Gordonsville before 
the enemy knew of his change of base. The Fed- 
erals were not apprehensive of danger and their 
forces, numbering now some 52,000 men, were 
scattered in camps over wide territory, stretching 
from the fords of the Rapidan to Culpeper Court 
House. 

The main force was stationed along the road 
leading direct from Culpeper to Gordonsville, 
for the enemy assumed that Jackson would ad- 
vance by that route. Pope made the same mis- 
take that Banks had made in holding Strasburg 
when Jackson flanked his position by advancing 
by the Page Valley and getting in his rear at Front 
Royal and Middletown. 

The move to Pisgah Church left the Federal 



SUCCESS OF THE ARMY 159 

army open to attack on its left flank. Owing to 
a misunderstanding of Lee's orders the Confeder- 
ate troops failed to push north from Pisgah 
Church and close in on the rear of Pope's army 
at Culpeper. A delay of two days gave Pope 
the opportunity to fall back and protect his rear; 
and he took a position on the Rappahannock River 
between Brandy Station and Manassas. 

In the meantime, Jackson, following the re- 
treating force of Pope, reached Brandy Station 
after a march of 20 miles. On August 21st Pope 
had massed his entire force on the left bank of the 
Rappahannock, where he occupied a strong posi- 
tion. It now became necessary to employ one of 
those flank movements, with which Jackson was 
so familiar. While Lee, with a large force, 
threatened Pope in front Jackson moved around 
Pope's right wing in the direction of Warrenton 
Springs, where he crossed the river under many 
difficulties; and, by keeping the enemy deceived 
as to his movements, he pushed north around 
Pope's flank and soon reached Warrenton. 

Up to this time the Confederate forces were 
obstinately confronted by the Federals, and a line 
of action was called for that would place Pope 
on the defensive and in a false position. At a 
conference held between Lee and Jackson on 
August the 24th it was decided to divide the army 
and to send Jackson north and across Bull Run 



i6o THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Mountain through Thoroughfare Gap, where he 
could strike the railroad in the rear of Pope and 
cut off his communication with Washington. In 
the meanwhile Longstreet was to hold Pope in his 
present position, by threatening his front. 

Early on the morning of August 26th, Jackson 
passed through the Gap in Bull Run Mountain 
and pressed forward through Haymarket and 
Gainesville to Bristow Station, four miles south 
of Manassas Junction. Burning the railroad 
bridge across Broad Run and securing a strong 
position behind the stream, he proceeded to Ma- 
nassas and seized all the stores, destroying what he 
could not use nor move. All Pope's supplies were 
now in Jackson's hands. Pope was at this time 
between Warrenton and Manassas, with Jackson 
in his rear and Longstreet pressing him in front. 
His force greatly outnumbered the divided 
armies of Lee and it was his plan to crush the 
forces under Jackson now in his rear at Manassas. 
Not knowing the strength and exact position of 
Jackson's anny, Pope struck wildly and scattered 
his men in all directions, — an evidence of confu- 
sion of mind and desperation of spirit. Jackson 
loitered at the Junction some hours and allowed 
his men to enjoy the luxuries of food that were 
found in the enemy's camp. It is not difficult 
to imagine the happiness of the men, — who had 
for days covered long distances by march, living 



SUCCESS OF THE ARMY 161 

largely on green corn and apples, — when they 
came into possession of the sutlers' wagons and 
dainty food supplies so abundantly handed out to 
them. 

Jackson's position at Manassas was exceedingly 
dangerous, but he calculated his chances, with his 
usual clearness and discretion. He was in the 
rear of large forces commanded by Pope and was 
separated from the army under Longstreet by over 
a day's march. Removing as much captured 
goods as possible, he set fire to the enormous stores 
at Manassas and quietly withdrew to a strong posi- 
tion about five miles north by west, where he en- 
camped and took measures for the expected attack 
by the Federal army. 

Jackson had planned that in case of defeat he 
could withdraw his army through a pass in Bull 
Run Mountain by way of Aldee. Established in 
this position, he was prepared for offensive opera- 
tions on the part of the enemy; and if he could 
hold his ground until Longstreet could join him, 
he felt able to deal a severe blow to the Federals. 
Pope, as soon as he was informed of the capture 
of Manassas, withdrew from the Rappahannock 
and rushed back to Manassas, holding to the view 
that the force that had captured the place was only 
a raiding party of cavalry. At that time he was 
not aware that the entire command under Jackson 
was in his rear. He lost valuable time in march- 



i62 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

ing and countermarching to discover Jackson's 
position. He did not know the position of his 
own troops until informed that his men under 
General King and General Gibbons had run up 
against Jackson and had been engaged in a severe 
fight, which Jackson had brought on with the in- 
tention of drawing the whole Federal army on 
him. The effect was shown by the results of the 
next two days. 

Late at night, when Pope learned of the en- 
gagement at Groveton, he gave orders for an at- 
tack on Jackson on the morning of August 29th. 
His purpose was to hurl a large force against 
Jackson before reinforcement could reach him, and 
thus crush him. Jackson was not aware at that 
time that Longstreet had broken through Thor- 
oughfare Gap and was near at hand. His posi- 
tion seemed critical, with the whole of Pope's 
army in front of him. With the coolness and 
courage that never deserted him under the most 
trying circumstances, he arranged his men in line 
of battle for the oncoming attack. By early dawn 
the Federal troops were seen advancing in columns 
for the attack. In the meantime Jackson had 
learned that Longstreet was near at hand, and he 
prepared to hold the enemy at bay until Long- 
street could give a counterstroke to the left wing 
of Pope's army. 

All day, and until five o'clock in the afternoon, 



SUCCESS OF THE ARMY 163 

Pope hurled his columns against the Confederates, 
with a dash and daring that indicated a desperate 
frame of mind. As his men assaulted the Confed- 
erate lines at every point they were driven back 
with dreadful slaughter. The fields were covered 
with the dead and the wounded. Within a few 
hours Pope had lost over eight thousand men ; and 
the Confederate losses were also large. After 
making five assaults and not breaking the Confed- 
erate lines, Pope ordered a retreat and withdrew 
from the field to renew the attack the following 
morning. 

During the night the Confederates rested 
quietly on their arms, retaining the position held 
the previous day. General Lee, now in command 
of all the Confederate forces on the field, remained 
on the defensive, waiting for the opportunity to 
give a fatal blow to Pope. On August the 30th 
Pope was still under the delusion that he had so 
crippled the enemy the day before that an easy 
victory was now in store for him, so he massed 
his forces for an attack at midday and his army 
being in position he gave orders for an advance. 
Assault after assault was made upon the Confeder- 
ate lines, but they held their ground and inflicted 
dreadful punishment upon the attacking party. 
After four hours of slaughter Pope ordered a re- 
treat. 

As his men fell back from Jackson's front Lee 



i64 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

saw his opportunity and ordered his whole army 
to advance. With a strong and determined move- 
ment, the Confederates drove Pope's lines back on 
Bull Run and Centreville. Night only put an 
end to the brilliant victory Lee had won. On 
Septernber the 1st and 2d the Federal army re- 
tired to the Potomac; General McClellan was put 
in charge of the Federal army, and Pope was al- 
lowed to resign. As a commander of large bodies 
of men he was a failure ; as a braggart and bluffer 
he was an eminent success, until the bluff was 
called. The people of Virginia have reason to 
chastise his memory with criticism and disrespect. 
Though the example he set found many followers 
during the subsequent years of the war, — such as 
Sherman, Sheridan, Hunter, and others of lesser 
light, — his associate officers in the LTnion army 
were at that time gentlemen and conducted the 
war on a high plane of decency and honor. 



CHAPTER XIV 

EVENTS IN OUR VILLAGE IN THE SUMMER OF '62 

The Second Battle of Manassas gave to the Con- 
federates many spoils and captured goods. A 
short time after the battle railroad communication 
was reestablished for a few days between our vil- 
lage and Manassas, and cars loaded with all kinds 
of army supplies were shipped to our place for 
transportation into the interior. I remember see- 
ing a number of gondolas loaded with muskets, 
rifles, pistols, and other arms that had been picked 
up on the battlefield, either spoils of war or 
weapons that had been discarded by the Confed- 
erates for better ones taken from the enemy. All 
this old material was useful to the Confederate 
soldiers, as it placed them in possession of arms 
much more valuable than those furnished by the 
War Department, 

During the greater part of the early summer of 
1862 there were Federal troops located at our vil- 
lage. In the latter weeks of July a regiment of 
infantry and two companies of cavalry were en- 
camped about a mile away, and two companies of 
infantry were encamped at the edge of the village 

165 



i66 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

on duty as a guard for the Provost-Marshal, who 
had his headquarters in the hotel. They were an 
orderly and well-behaved set of men, among whom 
were some very gentlemanly officers. As my home 
was in the suburbs the outpost picket was on a 
road near the house, and we could neither go in 
nor come out of the village, without a pass from 
the Provost-Marshal. The pass was given with- 
out objection; but as the pass was good only for 
the day on which it was issued, it was necessary 
to have it renewed frequently. In this way I 
learned to know the officers in charge quite well. 
One afternoon a few of our boys, somewhat 
older than myself, insisted that I should join them 
in a swim in the river, a mile distant and outside 
the picket line. We had to steal by the picket by 
going through a field and woods, away from the 
main road, to get to the river; and we were all in, 
having a glorious time, when in some way the 
Provost-Marshal learned of our escape and sent 
a squad of infantry after us. We were ordered 
to don our clothes, and were marched under guard 
to the Provost-Marshal's office. This was my 
first experience as a prisoner and the situation did 
not seem to offer much comfort. Whether my 
crime called for a light sentence or a heavy one I 
did not know. However, the good-hearted officer 
gave us only a lecture on our breach of military 
rules, then laughed heartily over our escapade. 



EVENTS IN OUR VILLAGE 167 

I was greatly relieved and thought this captain 
a very fine fellow. 

The colonel of the regiment was a very large 
and stout man, — inactive and somewhat advanced 
in years, — who had the reputation of being a first- 
class gentleman but a very poor soldier. He dele- 
gated the command almost entirely to the lieu- 
tenant-colonel, — a much more active officer and a 
younger one. At this time I was taken sick with 
a fever, which alarmed my parents very much. 
Our old family physician was too ill to do pro- 
fessional work. So my father called the Assist- 
ant Surgeon of the Federal Regiment, — a young 
man of most gentle manner, — to attend me. As 
my symptoms indicated a typhoid condition the 
young military doctor requested the Chief Sur- 
geon to see me in consultation. Between the two 
I was soon restored to health. These two surgeons 
were exceedingly kind to our citizens, assisting 
the older resident physicians in their attendance 
on a number of sick villagers, and supplying the 
patients with medicines which our own physicians 
did not have. Our people became much attached 
to them, realizing that the surgeons of the two 
armies were equally attentive to the wounded and 
sick, whether Confederate or Federal. This spirit 
of humanity has almost invariably characterized 
the members of the medical profession. Our com- 
mon humanity should always appeal to the nobler 



i68 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

instincts of our nature and we should always be 
ready to aid our fellow-man in sickness or misfor- 
tune. It is due to our people to say that during 
the war the sick and wounded of both Federal and 
Confederate armies were treated with equal con- 
sideration. I know that in my own home we made 
no distinction. 

At this time an incident occurred that for a few 
hours created an unusual commotion and excite- 
ment. While the Federal troops were quietly 
resting in camp, not dreaming of an attack by the 
Confederates, they were suddenly surprised by a 
small raiding body of cavalry that dashed into the 
village and captured the Provost-Marshal and his 
associates on duty at their headquarters in the 
hotel. Suddenly surprising the pickets, they 
dashed into the streets and captured the officers 
before the two companies on guard could come 
to their aid, the companies being in camp at the 
north end of the village and the raiders having 
come in from the south. Several of them rode 
down a back street and fired into the camp. The 
soldiers rushed wildly into their tents, but before 
they could form in company or squad the Confed- 
erates had seized the Provost-Marshal and the 
men that were with him. 

The prisoners, — some on foot and others 
mounted behind the cavalrymen, — were hurried 
out of the village. The retreat of the cavalry was 



EVENTS IN OUR VILLAGE 169 

made slow by the march of those on foot and the 
weight of those carried behind on the horses. In 
the meantime, the two companies of Federal cav- 
alry, with the regiment of infantry on the hill, hur- 
riedly saddled their horses and gave chase. As 
they were unencumbered, they made good time and 
overtook the Confederates five miles south of the 
village. The Confederates had already released 
the prisoners on foot as well as a few of those 
riding double, for they could not make time and 
they knew that they were being pursued. 

Among those captured was the Chief Surgeon, 
Dr. Wm. Marshall, who was mounted behind one 
of the men and carried over a mile. When he 
made known the fact that he was a surgeon he was 
immediately released and allowed to return to his 
command. This doctor frequently laughed over 
his capture as a huge joke, and did not take at all 
seriously the treatment he received. Some years 
after the war I met him at a seaside resort and 
spent several hours with him recalling incidents 
connected with his stay in our village when a sur- 
geon in the army. He recalled his capture by the 
Confederates as I have related it and referred to 
the experience as a most interesting episode in his 
life. He told me that a rebel cavalryman had 
picked him up on the street and ordered him to 
mount his horse as fast as possible. With the 
double load, the cavalryman struck out for the 



170 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

country as fast as his horse could run. After going 
a mile the horse began to slow down in his gait, 
when Dr. Marshall remarked to the cavalryman 
that he was a surgeon. He was immediately 
dropped in the road, and the horse, relieved of the 
burden, struck off at a faster pace and was soon out 
of sight. The surgeon then walked slowly back 
to the village, meeting on his return the Federal 
cavalry in full pursuit of the Confederates. 

The prisoners were dropped all along the road- 
side; the Provost-Marshal being the last set at 
liberty. They were overtaken by the Federals 
about five miles south of the village and only 
made good their escape by dispersing and fleeing in 
every direction. All the prisoners were released, 
but they held on to the horses they had captured. 

Nothing came of this raid except one unfor- 
tunate casualty. On the retreat from the village 
three or four of the cavalrymen were separated 
from their companions, and had to make their es- 
cape by a road that ran south, — in a different di- 
rection from the one in which they had come. 
In rushing out of the village they ran into the rear 
of the picket posted on the road a half-mile south; 
and the sentry on duty, seeing the men coming 
towards him, did not know whether he was con- 
fronted by his friends or enemies until he saw 
the gray uniforms of the men. He stood at his 
post, and gave the order to halt; then fired his 



EVENTS IN OUR VILLAGE 171 

gun. The fire was returned by the men in full 
gallop, and the sentry fell dead at his post, while 
the men rushed on, without taking time to see what 
damage they had done. The dead soldier was 
taken into a house near by and his body was kept 
until his comrades were notified of his death. 
This affair was sufficient to arouse attention and 
to demand stronger picket posts at a greater dis- 
tance from the village on the roads leading south. 
This regiment was in camp some three weeks, 
and then left to join the forces under Pope east of 
the Blue Ridge. 

From this time forward our village was never 
used as a permanent encampment for Federal 
troops. It became a stamping ground for both 
armies passing north and south, but was seldom 
occupied longer than two or three days at a time. 

Early in August a division of Federals, com- 
manded by General Sigel, halted several days on 
their march from the Valley to join Pope in Cul- 
peper County. This command was made up 
largely of Germans, with one brigade of Ohio and 
Western men, commanded by General Robert 
Schenck. These Ggjman troops could not speak / 
English and they had a bad reputation as thieves 
and pillagers of dairies and chicken-houses. They 
gave some of our citizens trouble, for they cleaned 
up the poultry yards and orchards wherever they 
went; and as they had a great fondness for milk 



172 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

they did not hesitate to milk any cow that came 
their way, drinking the milk warm from the cow's 
udder. In this connection I will tell an amusing 
incident I witnessed, which shows the brutal ap- 
petite of some men. A few cows belonging to our 
citizens were grazing in a meadow. The gentle 
cows had all been milked by the soldiers, and there 
was one young heifer that was not well broken to 
stand when milked. The men drove this animal 
into a corner and with their bayonets held her as 
quiet as possible. One fellow got on his knees and 
tried to milk her, but the animal gave a lurch and 
landed both feet on the man's chest, knocking him 
over. His comrades laughed heartily and then 
tried to corner the animal a second time, with no 
better success. At length they gave up the job 
and let her go. 

General Schenck, who commanded a brigade in 
Sigel's Division, was a guest in our home at that 
time, or, to be more exact, he had politely asked 
to make his headquarters in our house during his 
stay. As it was always a protection to a family 
to have one or more Federal officers quartered in 
or near a private home, almost all our citizens were 
willing to entertain these officers, for they were 
gentlemen, and during the first two years of the 
war they were most respectful and considerate. 
General Schenck and his staff were no excep- 
tion to the rule. He was a very courteous and 



EVENTS IN OUR VILLAGE 173 

kind-hearted man, whom we could respect even 
though he was an enemy of our country. 

As I recall him he was a large, stout, and rugged- 
looking man of middle life, with auburn hair, 
slightly tinged with gray. He had been a mem- 
ber of Congress from Ohio and thus early in the 
war had not been able to establish a great reputa- 
tion as a soldier. He was very intelligent, ami- 
able and courtly in manner, and most deferential 
to ladies. Every morning before breakfast he 
would go into the garden and pluck the most 
beautiful rose, bring it to the house, and present it 
to my mother. He always wore a flower in the 
lapel of his coat, which indicated a refinement and 
delicacy of sentiment not often observed among 
military men. 

He was very careful in his dress, and had as his 
valet a young mulatto man who looked after his 
personal comfort. When he left our home this 
negro stole an overcoat belonging to my father and 
a number of small articles belonging to the room 
occupied by General Schenck. My father wrote 
to General Schenck and gave him a list of the 
articles stolen, having, however, no expectation of 
ever recovering the articles, and writing more to 
post the General as to the honesty of his valet. 
Much to our surprise, some three or four days later 
a courier came all the way from Sperryville, some 
30 miles distant, and brought the stolen goods, 



174 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

with a courteous note from the General, offering 
apologies for the negro. 

The negro had stolen the goods but claimed that 
he had taken them believing that they belonged 
to the General. The valet had lied, for he knew 
perfectly well that the Confederate gray overcoat, 
with cloth buttons, was much too small for a man 
of General Schenck's large proportions. Fortu- 
nately he had been caught before he had time to 
dispose of the stolen goods, A small incident like 
this would have been disregarded by the vast ma- 
jority of men in the General's position; and his 
attention to so small a matter showed his nice sense 
of honor and his consideration for the rights of a 
citizen in whose home he had passed only a few 
days. 

General Schenck was a seasoned soldier. At 
the battle of Slaughter Mountain Sigel's Division 
suffered severely and General Schenck's Brigade 
bore the brunt of the fight. Again, at Second 
Manassas Sigel's troops were severely handled, and 
General Schenck was wounded and as a result lost 
an arm. After the close of the war he was ap- 
pointed Minister to the Court of St. James by the 
President of the United States. During his serv- 
ice in England he became very popular because of 
his rare social gifts and his genial personality. 
He was also the author of a book on the game of 
poker, — a book that became an authority, and has 



EVENTS IN OUR MLLAGE 175 

been widely used by card players. Because of 
this contribution to the amusement of the public 
he obtained the sobriquet of "Poker Schenck," per- 
haps the most widely known way of distinguishing 
him. 

In relating these incidents I am perhaps repeat- 
ing much history that is known to the generation 
that lived just before, during, and after the war. 
Yet many of the facts related may have an interest 
to the present generation and to those that follow, 
since they illustrate the character and temper of 
the times and of the people who took part in 
the events recorded. 



CHAPTER XV 

STONEWALL JACKSON AND THE MARYLAND CAM- 
PAIGN 

In the early spring of 1862 tjie people of Virginia 
found large bodies of Federal troops invading her 
territory. McClellan had pushed his forces on the 
Peninsula within a few miles of Richmond, and 
the fall of the Confederate capital seemed prob- 
able. In the Shenandoah Valley the Federals had 
reached as far as Harrisonburg, and held posses- 
sion of the most fertile section west of the Blue 
Ridge. A large army under General Pope was 
pushing into the interior by way of Culpeper 
Court House and Gordonsville. The armies of 
the Confederacy were kept in constant action on 
the defense, yielding here and there to the pressure 
of larger forces in front. Nothing but the mis- 
takes of the enemy and the boldness and activity 
of the Confederate armies could change the situa- 
tion. The first opportunity came when Jackson 
pushed west and defeated the Federal army at Mc- 
Dowell on May 8th and 9th. Returning to the 
Valley with this prestige of success, Jackson be- 
gan the great campaign that resulted in the defeat 

of the armies under Banks, Shields, and Fremont. 

176 



STONEWALL JACKSON 177 

Within 30 days he had marched his men over 
200 miles, and captured large supplies and pris- 
oners and had defeated the Federal armies in every 
engagement. This great strategy and accomplish- 
ment had raised Jackson's name to the highest re- 
nown; but this quiet, earnest man was thinking 
and caring little for his personal distinction. His 
best efforts were devoted to the cause he loved, and 
his one aim was to free his State from the invading 
army. 

The movement of Jackson's forces to the Penin- 
sula and his cooperation with Lee soon led to the 
defeat of McClellan and the withdrawal of his 
army from the front of Richmond. Next came 
the advance north led by Jackson, the battle with 
Pope at Slaughter Mountain, and the flank move- 
ment around Pope, resulting in the retreat of his 
army to the Rappahannock, where it was held on 
the defensive until Jackson had moved around his 
right wing, captured Manassas, with its stores, and 
cut off all communication with Washington. 

Next came the second battle of Manassas with 
complete rout of the Federal army and its retreat 
to the Potomac. 

The successes of the Confederate arms in such 
rapid succession had driven the Federal forces 
almost entirely off the soil of Virginia. In all 
these victories the genius of Stonewall Jackson 
stood out in bold relief. As a strategist, as a 



178 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

leader, as a genius of bold and daring adventure, 
he had no equal. Jackson was always aggressive, 
his mind was full of initiative, of cunning, and 
daring, which gave a spirit of inspiration to all 
his actions and movements. His secretiveness, his 
earnest piety, his faith in the guiding hand of 
Providence, his belief in himself and his mission, 
all gave a force to his military genius, — a genius 
that grasped every situation and carried him 
through every difficulty he encountered. The 
mastery of the man was the inspiration of the men 
who followed him, who believed in him, and who 
knew no such words as failure and defeat with 
him at their head. 

These military movements of Jackson have 
been studied and written up by the students of 
military history and by the ablest critics of war- 
fare; they have been made the text-book for the 
student of the science of war, and they will ever 
hold a place side b)^ side with the work of the 
greatest soldiers of ancient and modern times. 

Jackson had long advised the invasion of 
Northern territory, and after the First Manassas 
he had advocated an attack on Washington. The 
opportunity was now favorable for an aggressive 
movement north of the Potomac. In this advance 
Lee assigned the leadership to Jackson. On Sep- 
tember 2d Jackson, with his command, pushed 
across the Potomac at White's Ferry and as- 



STONEWALL JACKSON 179 

sembled his men in Frederick City. Lee with the 
larger army followed. The combined forces 
under Lee were estimated at 64,000 men, but as 
there were many stragglers the active force was 
10,000 less. The Federal army under McClellan 
was at that time being assembled and reorganized 
in and around Washington. It numbered over 
100,000 men in arms, while a Federal army of 
8,000 men, under General White, was in posses- 
sion of Harper's Ferry, and some 3,000 men were 
in Winchester, there being also about the same 
number at Martinsburg, — all in the rear of the 
Confederate forces then concentrating near Fred- 
erick City. 

It was evidently the purpose of the Federal 
authorities to hold Harper's Ferry, and embarrass 
the rear of the Confederate army, and cut off its 
communication with the South by way of the 
\'alley. It was evident to Lee that this Federal 
force should be dislodged at once. Longstreet, 
with 2';,ooo men, declined to lead the attack on 
Harper's Ferry, and Jackson at once assumed this 
difficult task. On September 10th Jackson, — his 
command reinforced by three divisions, — began to 
invest Harper's Ferry on three sides. 

Crossing South Mountain at Turner's Gap, he 
moved west in the direction of Williamsport, 
where he crossed the Potomac. He then marched 
to Martinsburg, to drive the Federal troops sta- 



i8o THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

tioned there into the net at Harper's Ferry. 
Closing in around the garrison now occupying 
strong positions on the heights around this place, 
he began preparations for its immediate capture. 
Prompt work was required, for McClellan was 
pressing through Frederick City and South Moun- 
tain to the relief of General White, now walled 
in by Jackson. During the 13th and 14th Jack- 
son's batteries played on the garrison and soon 
convinced General White that further resistance 
was impossible. 

Early on the morning of the 15th the place was 
surrendered unconditionally, with a loss to the 
Confederate side of less than one hundred men. 
General White surrendered 12,000 prisoners, with 
as many small arms, 73 pieces of artillery, and all 
stores, wagons, horses, and army equipments in the 
place. The results of the surrender were very 
advantageous to Lee, as his forces were being 
heavily pressed through South Mountain by 
McClellan and his 90,000 and more men. Lee 
was forced to retire to Sharpsburg where he was 
joined by Jackson, — now released from Harper's 
Ferry. 

The ground around Sharpsburg was elevated on 
a plateau, bordered on the north and east by 
Antietam Creek, — a rugged stream that wound its 
way through high banks to the Potomac, which 
was from one to three miles west of Lee's posi- 



STONEWALL JACKSON 181 

tion. With an army now reduced to 45,000 men, 
it was a serious question whether Lee should, with 
90,000 men assaulting his lines, remain on the 
defensive or retire across the river and take a posi- 
tion on Virginia soil, thus abandoning the object 
of the Maryland campaign : a decisive battle with 
McClellan and a crippling of his army. Lee de- 
cided to stand at bay and await an assault from 
McClellan. He had little to expect from this 
line of action except a dignified defense and a 
retreat that would retain the morale of his army 
and weaken the force of the Federal blow aimed 
at him. The ground and position, properly se- 
cured by works, hastily constructed, were favor- 
able for defensive operations; and the burden of 
attack was placed on the Federal troops, which 
up to this time had met with indifferent success 
in assaults upon Lee's men. 

Before daylight of September 17th, the firing 
of the pickets began between the two lines, and 
within a short time the Federals, led by Hooker, 
began the attack on the left wing, held by Jackson 
and his men. Following a cannonade lasting an 
hour, the advance was made through a wide open 
field; the Federals pushing forward with energy 
and daring, until they encountered the Con- 
federate lines, when the resistance became ob- 
stinate and unyielding. 

Charge and countercharge were made and re- 



i82 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

pulsed. The artillery was used en masse to 
silence the Confederate batteries and aid the ad- 
vancing columns in their assaults. The firing 
from Jackson's men was poured upon the charging 
columns, with deadly effect. The men were cut 
down in such numbers that the field was soon 
covered with bodies of dead men and wounded, 
while the living were mixed in wild confusion. 
The dead lay piled up in front of the Confederate 
lines in heaps; still the Federals rushed in and in 
places broke through the lines, only to be forced 
back for renewed assaults. Backward and for- 
ward the battle raged, with clouds of smoke and 
crash of muskets and almost deafening roar of ar- 
tillery. Neither side seemed willing to yield. As 
fresh men were rushed in to support the Federals 
the Confederates rallied and closed in their de- 
pleted ranks. From one end of the line to the 
other the battle raged for hours. When the left 
wing failed to give away the center of the line 
was charged and recharged, only to be repulsed 
until fresh men could be brought into action. 
Failing to break the left and center, McClellan 
ordered Burnside to attack the Confederate right 
with three divisions. Here the resistance was 
long and bloody, and at one time the result looked 
disastrous to the Confederates; but General A. P. 
Hill, coming from Harper's Ferry where he 
had been with Jackson, brought fresh men into 



STONEWALL JACKSON 183 

action in time to save the wavering lines and 
drove Burnside's men under cover. 

This fortunate counterstroke at the proper time 
saved the day. The Federals retired from the 
field and gave up the struggle for the day, which, 
extending from daylight to early afternoon, had 
been gigantic. Every moment was filled with in- 
tense action. Marching, countermarching, firing, 
and loading had put a strain on the men that could 
last no longer. When night came both armies 
were exhausted; many soldiers, without food or 
water, fell asleep in their lines almost forgetful 
of the carnage and suffering about tliem. Out of 
130,000 men who had met on the field in the 
morning over 20,000 had been killed or wounded. 
The Federal losses were greater than those of the 
Confederates; for the attacking party had been 
exposed to the greater danger. No less than fif- 
teen generals and brigadiers had fallen in the 
battle. 

After the battle Lee held a conference with his 
generals to decide whether the army should re- 
treat during the night and cross the Potomac. In 
this conference, after all had given their opinions. 
General Lee, mounted on his horse, rose in his 
stirrups and said: 

"We will not cross the Potomac to-night. If 
McClellan wants to fight in the morning, I will 
give him battle again." 



i84 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The will and courage of this great soldier were 
invincible. He knew McClellan. He knew the 
temper of his own men. 

On September i8th the two armies remained in 
the same position. McClellan made no effort to 
renew the attack. Lee collected and buried his 
dead, removed his wounded across the Potomac 
as far as was possible, and then during the night 
withdrew his entire army to the Virginia side, 
taking all his wagons and artillery with him. 

The withdrawal of the Confederates gave 
McClellan and his Government the nerve to claim 
the battle of Antietam as a great Federal victory; 
but the facts did not warrant any such claim, for 
McClellan had been balked and driven back at 
every point. His army, while not stampeded, 
was prostrated and demoralized for the time being, 
and some days passed before it was able to make 
an aggressive movement. 

With the return of the Confederates to Vir- 
ginia the campaign of 1862 came to a close. The 
two great armies that had met on hard-fought 
battlefields, extending from the Peninsula to the 
Potomac, had been exhausted. They rested like 
two worn out game cocks, too deeply wounded to 
resume fight. 



CHAPTER XVI 

FALL AND WINTER OF 1862 

The Valley of Virginia, which had been in the 
possession of the Federal troops since the early 
spring, was now within the Confederate lines. 
General Lee went into camp in the northern coun- 
ties of the Valley, where he reorganized his army 
and gradually restored its efficiency. At his sug- 
gestion to the President the Army of Northern 
Virginia was organized into two army corps, the 
command of one of which was given to General 
James Longstreet and the other to General T. J. 
(Stonewall) Jackson. Each was made a lieuten- 
ant-general. Jackson received his commission on 
October 1 1 th and was placed in command of the 
Second Army Corps, made up of the divisions of 
Ewell and D. H. Hill and the Stonewall Division. 
His corps numbered at the time of its organiza- 
tion about 27,000 men. The First Army Corps, 
under Longstreet, was transferred to eastern Vir- 
ginia, and went into camp near Culpeper Court 
House. 

Jackson remained in the lower Valley for some 
weeks and enjoyed the quiet rest of the camp and 
the beautiful country around. The larger por- 

185 



i86 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

tion of his force was camped on the Opequon, 
with headquarters at Millwood, Clarke County. 
During this time he was actively engaged in de- 
stroying the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the 
Manassas Gap Railroad, between Manassas and 
Strasburg. 

Stuart was active. With his cavalry and with 
600 picked men, well mounted, he started on 
October 9th on a raid into Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania. Crossing the Potomac at McCoy's Ford, 
he marched north to Chambersburg, which he 
reached late on the evening of October loth. 
Here he secured a number of horses and supplies, 
destroyed rail and wire communications, and rested 
until morning. He then marched east to Em- 
metsburg, Frederick City, and Hyattsville, where 
he camped for the night, having covered a distance 
of 90 miles since leaving Chambersburg. On the 
12th of October he cut the lines of communication 
with Washington, but running into Federal troops 
that were on the lookout for him, he crossed the 
Potomac at White's Ferry before the enemy could 
close in on him. 

He then rejoined the army in Virginia. In a 
space of 58 hours he had traveled with his men 
126 miles through the enemy's country, without 
a casualty; had brought back several hundred fine 
horses, and had located the positions of the Fed- 
eral army. He was vigorously pursued by large 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1862 187 

bodies of Federal cavalry, but he eluded them at 
every point and inflicted more damage on their 
horses by the circuitous chases he led them than he 
was himself exposed to by the direct route of 
travel he made. The raid of Stuart had the 
further effect of delaying the movements of 
McClellan. It was not until October 26th that 
McClellan commenced the passage of the Potomac 
and again invaded Virginia. At this time he had 
with him a total strength of 225,000 men for of- 
fensive work, and this army had been thoroughly 
reorganized and equipped for active service. On 
November 7th the Sixth Army Corps of the Army 
of the Potomac, numbering 125,000 men, with 
320 guns, assembled between Bull Run Moun- 
tain and the Blue Ridge. In Washington a garri- 
son of 80,000 was encamped and along the Balti- 
more and Ohio Railroad there were some 22,000 
men. 

To face this powerful force the Confederates 
had a total of 7 1 ,809 men and 279 guns, — a force 
divided at that time. Lee did not concentrate his 
forces in front of McClellan, but held the Second 
Army Corps in the Valley to threaten McClellan's 
rear. As soon, however, as McClellan advanced 
from Warrenton Lee decided to unite his forces. 
This advance was not made, for on the same day 
McClellan was removed and General Burnside 
was given the command of the Army of the Poto- 



i88 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

mac. Burnside at once changed McClellan's 
plans and moved the Army of the Potomac to 
Falmouth on the Potomac, and later to Fredericks- 
burg. It was then evident that the line of 
advance on Richmond would be by way of Fred- 
ericksburg. On November the 22d Jackson left 
Winchester, on the 27th his army was concen- 
trated at Orange Court House, 37 miles from 
Fredericksburg, and on the 29th the First and 
Second Army Corps were united in front of Burn- 
side. 

I have followed these military movements 
through the campaign of 1862 that the reader 
may have a brief view of the operations of the 
different forces in northern Virginia, that he may 
understand the situation of our people, and the 
effect these movements had upon the domestic life 
and interests of our citizens. In 1862 our vil- 
lage had a population of less than 500. It was 
the county seat and only village of any importance 
in the county. Located on a railroad running 
from Washington to the main Valley of the 
Shenandoah, it was in communication by pikes 
with a large agricultural country to the south and 
southeast that gave it some commercial impor- 
tance and considerable inland trade. It had good 
stores, four churches, a court-house, and a number 
of attractive private homes. With the exception 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1862 189 

of one tanyard, there were no factories in the 
place. 

Our townspeople were largely represented by 
the professional and mercantile element and a few 
retired farmers. The people were refined, hos- 
pitable and moral, for the community was made 
up of old families who owned their own negroes 
and some property. The surrounding country 
was settled by a well-to-do rural population that 
owned good farms, good live stock, and a well- 
behaved class of negroes. When the war broke 
out our people were happy and prosperous. 
There was no poverty in our county, for labor was 
respected and worthy of its hire, and a comfortable 
living was within the reach of everyone. Of 
course all this was changed by the fortunes of 
war. All personal property was swept away, and 
many of our citizens were impoverished. Those 
who owned lands were generally able to hold 
them, but all improvements on the land were so 
destroyed that the bare soil was about all that was 
left. Houses, barns, outbuildings, and fences 
were in many instances burned, or were left in 
such a dilapidated condition as to be almost worth- 
less. Only two flour and grist mills were left in 
the county, the others having been burned in the 
fall of 1864 by the order of General Sheridan. 

About 30 per cent of the population of the 



190 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

county was negro. Of the white population over 
90 per cent was of pure Anglo-Saxon blood. 
There was a small German element composed of 
moral and industrious citizens. The majority of 
our people were landowners and farmers, the rural 
life being one of great independence and refine- 
ment. There were a number of fine old estates 
and many of the landowners lived in baronial 
style, in homes of comfort and hospitality. 

There were few rural communities in Vir- 
ginia where the people were so free from debt and 
social unrest as in our county, and few where the 
rights of the slave were so respected and cared for. 
Slavery was considered a responsibility, not a 
privilege. The negro was happy and contented. 
He loved his master. 

Up to the close of 1862 these conditions had not 
been seriously disturbed. The armies that had 
passed through and encamped in the county had 
burned a great deal of fencing and had destroyed 
some of the growing crops, so that within a radius 
of two miles of the village there were few fields 
left enclosed and the land was open to general 
use. As much of the live stock, — such as horses 
and cattle, — had been taken for the use of both 
armies, only such animals as cows, hogs, poultry, 
and a few old and broken-down horses were left 
for the use of our citizens. But this stock was 
sufficient for all necessary wants, and the ques- 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1862 191 

tion of food supplies had not been raised. Many 
of the people living in the village began to keep 
cows, hogs, and poultry and to cultivate the 
garden and the orchard. In this way home sup- 
plies were not reduced to any great extent. This 
was a fortunate circumstance, as during the last 
two years of the war our village population would 
have suffered for the actual necessities of life, had 
not the garden, the orchard, and the poultry )^ard 
supplied the food necessary to sustain life. 

Breadstuffs, groceries, and clothing became 
luxuries, for the wheat and corn were either re- 
moved or destroyed by the Federal troops, 
groceries could seldom be had and clothes were 
made of material for the greater part spun, woven, 
and dyed, by our women. 

After the latter part of August, 1862, our 
county was held within the Confederate lines, and, 
with the exception of a few raiding parties, we 
had no Federal troops until the early spring of 
1863, During the fall and winter months our 
people were able to follow their usual avocations. 
The farmers cultivated and gathered their crops 
by the labor of old men, negroes, and boys. The 
home life was made sad or joyful as the effects of 
war were experienced in the results of battle. 
With all the active male population in the army, 
the losses by sickness and death in battle were felt 
by almost every family; and those soldiers that 



192 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

had so far escaped the casualties of war were at 
the front, and each mail might bring tidings of 
sorrow to some heart. Our boys were seldom able 
to come home on furlough unless encamped near 
us; but the wounded and convalescent sick came 
home for rest and recovery, so that our village 
still remained a rendezvous for a number of dis- 
abled soldiers. 

The social life was in this way kept in a state 
of excitement that removed all monotony and 
gloom and gave a live interest to daily occurrences. 
All was not sorrow and depression of spirit, for 
the hearts of young and old were fired with 
patriotism and hope of success for the Southern 
cause. The withdrawal of the Federal army, the 
acts of heroism and the fame of Lee, Jackson and 
other generals inspired a hope of final victory, and 
the belief that the war would end in the indepen- 
dence of our nation. Lip to the spring of 1863 
the progress of the war had been favorable to the 
South, hence the winter of 1862 was a period of 
happy expectation. Looking forward to better 
things, we regarded the events of the past as small 
sacrifices that a people should make for liberty 
and independence. Those who had been bereaved 
by the death of their loved ones or who suffered 
losses of property were reconciled to the decree of 
fate because hope seemed to smile on the Southern 
arms. 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1862 193 

During the fall of 1862 the President of the 
Confederate .States called upon the people of the 
South to observe a day of Thanksgiving and 
Prayer for the success of the Southern arms. The 
people were requested to meet in places of public 
worship and offer prayers to Almighty God in 
thanks for His mercy and love. 

In our village our citizens of all religious de- 
nominations assembled in one of the two churches 
left for worship. The congregation was made up 
almost entirely of old men, women, girls, and 
boys, there being not a man there that was able 
to bear arms. A few old servants occupied seats 
in the gallery. Of those present some were in 
deep mourning for loved ones who had died in 
service; some were sorrowing for their friends and 
relatives in hospitals and camps; indeed, there 
was not a soul that was not touched in some way 
b}- the hand of war. The minister was an old 
man whose sons were in the army, whose hair was 
frosted by the cares of time, whose shoulders were 
bent under the weight of years, and whose heart 
had been touched by the sorrows of life. His 
spirit was the spirit of the times. After the con- 
gregation had sung the old hymn, "How firm a 
foundation, etc.," he poured out a fervent prayer, 
and then took as his text the following verse : 

"And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a 
going in the top of the mulberry trees that then thou 



194 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

shall bestir thyself, for then shall the Lord go out 
before thee to smite the host of the Philistines." — 
II Samuel, 5 — 24. 

With a clear, sweet, and earnest voice he told 
the congregation the history of the, long war be- 
tween the house of Saul and the house of David, 
of the triumph of David over Saul, of the estab- 
lishment of the throne of David over Israel and 
over Judah and finally how David had delivered 
Israel from the hands of the Philistines and out 
of the hands of all their enemies. He drew a 
comparison between the struggles of David, and 
his efforts to establish a kingdom of righteousness 
for the people of Israel and those of the people of 
the South in their struggles for political inde- 
pendence. 

He tried to explain the nature of the contest 
the Southern people were making, the hardships 
and sacrifices they had to endure, the signs of the 
times, in the going of the leaves in the top of 
the mulberry trees, and the necessity for united 
and persistent effort upon the part of every 
man, woman, and child in the great struggle 
for liberty in which the Southland was engaged. 
After referring in the most touching and pathetic 
way to the sorrows that many in the congregation 
were now bearing for the loss of loved ones who 
had fallen in battle, to the uncertainties that then 
surrounded those now active in service, to the need 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1862 195 

of courage and faith to bear all things, he raised 
his voice, with a spirit of reverence and fire, and 
cried out, "Bestir thyself, for then shall the Lord 
go out before thee to smite the host of the 
enemy." 

This sermon stirred the most profound emotion 
of the congregation, and filled each member with 
silent courage and with an abiding hope that the 
Lord was with them. There was scarcely a dry 
eye in the church. All took to heart the spirit of 
truth, the admonition of zeal that the preacher 
had inspired. 

After the lapse of many years I am only able 
to repeat the words and thoughts of the good old 
preacher, long since gone to his reward, in this 
brief and imperfect way. The language has been 
lost but the impression left on my boyish mind 
was too deep to be forgotten. It has lingered all 
these years in memory's hidden shelves because it 
was treasured in the heart and mind, like the 
prayers taught by our mothers in the very earliest 
days of childhood that are never forgotten, like 
the nursery rhymes and little poems and nurses' 
tales that live forever in sweetest recollection. 



CHAPTER XVII 

WINTER PLEASURES AND DANGERS 

During the fall and winter of 1862 our com- 
munity was kept in more or less commotion by 
visits from the soldiers of both armies. While 
the Confederate army was in winter camp there 
were frequent opportunities for the boys in gray 
to visit their homes on furlough. This was espe- 
cially the case after the great defeat of Burnside 
at Fredericksburg on December 1 1 th and 1 2th. 

In November, after Stonewall Jackson left the 
Valley, the Federal troops took possession of Win- 
chester and that town became the outpost of the 
Federal army. Frequent raids by the cavalry 
were made from Winchester into the surrounding 
country and our village was frequently threatened 
by these raiding parties, so we were kept on the 
lookout, as no one could tell when a visit would 
be made. We then occupied neutral ground be- 
tween the armies, — ground that was open to the 
pleasure of either. The boys in gray, whose 
home was our village, had to conceal their visits 
at night; during the day, however, they could 
easily make their escape, for warning of the 
enemy's approach could be easily given in ample 

196 



PLEASURES AND DANGERS 197 

time lor them to escape. The danger these boys 
assumed may be illustrated by the following in- 
cident : 

One of our boys, whose home was on the main 
road of travel between our place and Winchester, 
visited his home and spent several nights with his 
family. Early one morning a man dressed in 
Confederate unifonn rode up to the house and 
rushed in before his presence was known. With- 
out ceremony he entered a room where the 
boy in gray was seated talking to his mother. 
As he entered the room the young Confederate 
took him for one of his companions and rose 
from his seat to offer him a welcome. The 
Federal soldier, seeing the boy, drew his pistol and 
demanded surrender. The boy in gray sprang on 
him so suddenly that he seized the pistol before it 
could be fired, then he grappled with the Federal 
soldier. In the tussle that ensued the Confederate 
threw the Federal and had him fixed on the floor, 
while the mother, who was in the room and an 
eyewitness to the struggle, cried out to her boy, 
"Give it to him, son; give it to him." But while 
the fight was still going on a great commotion was 
heard in the yard and the mother, going to the 
window to see what the noise meant, found that 
the yard was full of Federal cavalrymen, who 
were dismounting to enter the house. 

Turning to her son, she told him to surrender, 



198 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

as there was no chance for him to escape. Up to 
this time he had had the advantage, and but for 
outside aid, would have captured his aggressor. 

Realizing the situation, he released his hold and 
allowed the man to rise. Though still holding 
the pistol he told the man that he would sur- 
render, and he was soon hurried off to prison. 

The Federal soldier, — who wore over his blue 
uniform a Confederate gray overcoat that dis- 
guised him completely, was what was then known 
as a "Jessie Scout." He had ridden in advance 
of the raiding party, partly disguised as a spy, 
and had picked up a tartar who would have given 
him serious trouble had not his comrades come to 
his rescue. 

This occurrence was not unusual, for our boys in 
gray, when visiting the homes of their friends in 
the Federal lines or in neutral territory, assumed 
the risks of war and often made trouble for their 
families, whose homes were frequently searched 
and not infrequently plundered by men who 
claimed to be looking for rebel soldiers, but who 
were really in search of valuable property. 

On one occasion just after daybreak and before 
any member of my family, except my father, was 
out of bed a raiding party of Federal cavalry 
rushed up to my home and entered the house, 
demanding to know whether any rebel soldiers 
were sleeping in the house. My father answered 



PLEASURES AND DANGERS 199 

in the negative; but they claimed the right to 
search the house from cellar to garret. 

Going through every bedroom, closet and 
hiding-place, and finding no evidence of rebel 
soldiers in the house, they mounted their horses 
and rode away. In one respect they were decent : 
they took none of our property. This is more 
than can be said of those who came later in the 
war, for our people were often robbed by wander- 
ing squads of cavalry, in search of plunder rather 
than of rebels, who did not hesitate to take any- 
thing they could carry away, — especially silver 
and articles of food and clothing that had any 
value to them. I will give an illustration. 

One early morning in the fall of 1864 two 
Federal cavalrymen rode up to the side-yard fence 
that enclosed my home and asked the servant to 
call my father as they wished to see him. The 
servant came into the dining-room, where the 
family was eating breakfast, and told my father 
he was wanted at the fence by two soldiers. As 
the air was chilly my father threw over his 
shoulders a handsome black cloth overcoat that 
had seen but little service. The coat had a pe- 
culiar value as it belonged to a young relative 
who had been killed in battle, and after his death 
his mother had presented it to my father, who had 
not worn it a half-dozen times. 

I followed my father out to the fence, where 



200 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the men were seated on their horses. They asked 
a few questions, then rode away, and we thought 
nothing more of the incident. However, after 
dark the same day two cavalrymen rode up to the 
same place and called to one of the servants in 
the yard to tell my father to come out to see 
them. As it was dark, we could not tell whether 
they were the same men we had seen at the same 
place in the morning. Boylike, I went with my 
father. When we reached the fence the spokes- 
man remarked that two of their men had reported 
to General Torbert, — then commanding the raid- 
ing party — ,that they had seen a citizen wearing 
that morning a handsome overcoat, like those worn 
by Federal officers, and that they had been or- 
dered to bring the overcoat to his tent, the man 
with the overcoat, if necessary. 

My father protested that the coat he had worn 
that morning was his own, that it was a citizen's 
overcoat and bore no resemblance to a uniform. 
The man insisted that his orders were explicit, 
that he wanted to see the coat to be satisfied as to 
its character, whereupon my father told me to go 
to the house and bring out the coat. This I did. 
The man on horseback examined it carefully, felt 
the silk collar and cloth buttons, the silk lining 
and general make-up of the garment. He then 
coolly remarked : 

"Yes, this seems to be a citizen's overcoat, but 



PLEASURES AND DANGERS 201 

I have positive orders from General Torbert that 
I must bring the coat to his camp." He also had 
the courtesy (?) to add: "General Torbert in- 
structed me to bring the owner ot the coat with 
me, if he did not consent to give me the coat. I 
am satisfied that it will be returned to the owner 
as soon as it has been examined and found to be 
the coat of a citizen." 

While the discussion was going on the cavalry- 
men held fast to the coat. It was quite dark, 
General Torbert's camp was over a mile from my 
home, and the only route to it was through dense 
woods. My father knew well that if he under- 
took the trip on foot he w^ould never reach the 
General's camp, that these men would gallop away 
from him or murder him on the way. He saw 
they wevG thieves, if not desperadoes, and that the 
only thing he could do was to submit to the hold- 
up. After protesting against the brutality of the 
demand, he said: "Take the coat, it is my 
property, I never expect to see it again." The 
villain, again apologizing for the injustice of 
General Torbert's order, put spurs to his horse 
and rode away. The men had simply lied about 
General Torbert, had maligned his character, and 
had disgraced the uniform they wore. They had 
robbed a citizen of his personal property when he 
had no more ability to protect himself than a man 
who is held up by a set of bandits. I felt most 



202 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

keenly for my father, for he experienced the 
humiliation and indignation that every brave 
spirit feels when personal rights are assailed by 
brute force and when resistance is impossible by 
reason of the situation. So I said to him : 

"Father, don't worry over this theft. These 
men are not soldiers but thieves who follow the 
army in uniform to rob and pillage our people. 
When I get old enough to enter the army I will 
have revenge for this insult." 

The war was over before I was able to express 
in act the indignation I felt in heart. The loss 
of the overcoat was of minor importance, — in- 
significant in comparison with other losses we had 
sustained, — but it wounded our deeper feelings, 
gave us a consciousness of crushed spirit, the sense 
of helplessness, of mortification because of the 
indignity to which we had been subjected. 

I want to say in this connection as a matter of 
justice, that such experiences as I have here re- 
lated, while common, were not universal, and are, 
after all, almost inseparable from the nature 
and consequences of civil war. Armies are made 
up of units, and these units represent the type and 
character of the men who make up the whole. 
During the first two years of the war between the 
States the Federal army was composed of volun- 
teers who represented the best type of citizen of 
the North and West. The officers who were in 



PLEASURES AND DANGERS 203 

command were in the majority of cases gentlemen 
of good standing at home, as well as of good 
breeding. They may not have been the best 
soldiers, because they had not been tried and 
hardened by active service, but they were loyal 
and true men, who were trying to conduct the war 
on a high ethical basis. 

The men who entered the Federal Army during 
the last three years of the war were of an entirely 
different type, being the riffraff of the North, 
foreigners, bounty jumpers, hirelings, substitutes, 
and negroes, while the majority of officers who^ 
commanded them had come up from the ranks. 
Their views of warfare had changed with the 
policy of the Government ; for when it was found 
that the South could not be coerced by the force 
and gallantry of arms, — that sterner weapons were 
required than muskets and cannon, — the contest 
narrowed to the basis of endurance. 

It was recognized at Washington that the only 
policy that could win the war was to starve and 
destroy the Confederate forces, — a policy not con- 
fined to the men in actual arms, but used against 
old men, women, and children in their homes, 
against life and property, if necessary to the sub- 
jugation of a high-spirited people. 

The War between the States kindled bitter ani- 
mosities, yet all through that contest of passion 
and blood innumerable instances occurred where 



204 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the warmest friendships were made between friend 
and foe, where acts of kindness were done, where 
generous hearts were ready to help and to heal the 
wounds and sorrows of individuals and families. 
Our people have never forgotten the kindness that 
some of the Federal officers and men rendered 
them when they held at bay some of the thieves 
and cutthroats in the Federal army. The gen- 
erosity and consideration of an enemy can often 
heal the wounds of his adversary, — can, as it were, 
pour water on coals-of-fire and drown the flames 
of passion. This was often the case during the 
first two years of the war. 

It was only as the war progressed, and as the 
policy of the Federal Government became cruel 
and barbarous towards the noncombatants of the 
South that the violent hatred of the Southern 
people was kindled. This hatred was not toward 
individuals but was directed at the political 
leaders and officers that were responsible for the 
wanton destruction of private property and the 
unnecessary punishment of old men, women and 
children of the South who were within the Federal 
lines. Our people respected such soldiers as 
McClellan, Meade, Grant, Thomas, McDowell, 
Hancock, and a number of others of that type; 
but they repudiated and denounced the cast of 
Sherman, Sheridan, Pope, Hunter, Butler, and a 
number of lesser lights, — men that carried Are and 



PLEASURES AND DANGERS 205 

sword in both hands and instructed the men under 
them to steal, destroy, and carry away the property 
of innocent citizens. The barbarity of these men 
is a lasting stain upon a Government that con- 
trolled the policies of the nation at that time. If 
such a policy were justifiable then let us bow in 
shame to the authority of a civilization supposed 
to be founded on principles of justice and 
humanity. 



CHAPTER XVni 

BOYISH SPORTS. VISIT TO RICHMOND 

About the ist of October our people were relieved 
of the high tension that the spring and summer 
months had brought because of the presence in our 
neighborhood of the two annies. Months had 
passed since the boys and girls had enjoyed the 
privileges of school. We were growing up under 
an exciting life that was educational in only one 
way: it gave instruction in observations and ex- 
periences that in a measure strengthened char- 
acter. It failed, however, to train the mind in 
that information that must come from books and 
from the spirit and instruction of the teacher. 

After a long rest from school about the middle 
of September, 1862, a small private school was 
opened by a middle-aged gentleman who had been 
raised and educated in our county but who for 
some years had practiced law in a Western State. 
He was not a trained teacher, but he was a man 
of good sense, education, and character and, above 
all, a man of good heart. He had returned to 
Virginia to enter the Confederate army, but as the 

summer campaign had almost closed he decided to 

206 



VISIT TO RICHMOND 207 

spend the winter months in teaching school rather 
than in the idleness of camp life. A small build- 
ing was found for the school. 

It was divided by a partition, the boys occupy- 
ing one room, and the girls the other. The class 
was a small one, in which there were more girls 
than boys. In this school I took up the routine 
work of book study, but I cannot say that my 
work was highly profitable. There were constant 
interruptions, and for days the school had to be 
closed on account of the excitement and disturb- 
ances of war, when rumors of raids and actual 
raiding parties made it necessary for our teacher 
to dismiss the class and allow us to go home. 

Upon one occasion while we were at our desks a 
body of Federal cavalry came into the village 
before we were aware of its presence. Several 
cavalrymen, with drawn pistols, rode up to the 
door, called the teacher out, and so alarmed 
the children that a general stampede followed. 
There was not a resumption of school work for 
several days. Early in the spring the Federal 
cavalry came to our village and encamped there. 
A few weeks later our school broke up, our teacher 
joined the army, and four of our oldest boys, then 
about 17 years of age, left home for military 
service. A few weeks later two of these boys 
were wounded in battle and a third was a prisoner 
at Point Lookout, Maryland, During the few 



2o8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

months we were at this school many interesting 
incidents came into my life. 

My home was enlivened by numerous visitors 
who came and went from day to day. I found 
much pleasure in this company, as also in the 
winter sports of boyhood. In the fall I gathered 
walnuts and chestnuts, hunted birds and rabbits 
and spent most of the day in outdoor exercise with 
Uncle Lewis and other servants on the farm. We 
gathered and stored what had been left, cut and 
hauled wood and provided for the comforts of the 
winter. When the snow came I enjoyed the coast- 
ing on the hillside and with ice we boys had 
plenty of skating on the ponds and rivers. 

I had found in one of the old camps several old 
muskets and had picked up many cartridges. I 
would load these old muskets and practice target 
shooting by the hour, thinking I would some day 
have to practice shooting at the enemy, if the war 
continued a few years longer. I had in some -way 
secured a small toy brass cannon that would fire 
a Minie bullet with as much force as a musket. I 
mounted it on wheels, and I would take a position 
in front of a hill and fire away at an imaginary 
enemy until I had demolished a target placed in 
front of a tree several hundred feet distant. In 
this boyhood sport I was often joined by some 
three or four of my companions of about my age. 
We all owned several old horses and would 



VISIT TO RICHMOND 209 

mount these old animals and play cavalrymen, 
taking rides into the woods and fields, charging, 
jumping, and running as best we could on our 
old mounts. These were happy days for us, and 
we did not realize the fate that might overtake 
us as the war progressed. 

One of my comrades, a lad 16 years of age, — 
two years my senior, — and I were discussing one 
day what we purposed to do when we entered the 
army and in what branch of the service we would 
enlist. He was a good rider and his father owned 
a good horse ; so he said he would join the cavalry. 
One year later he enlisted in a company in the 
Laurel Brigade, and in his very first engagement 
was killed in the front rank of his regiment 
during a charge. But for the difference in our 
ages I probably would have been enlisted in the 
same service with him. 

These pastimes of a boy living between the 
lines, growing up under the excitement and pas- 
sion of civil war were the preparatory school in 
which we were being trained for future military 
service. The rough experiences, the daily duties, 
the excitement, and the perils with which we 
were surrounded were so lightly considered that 
we treated them as matters of course, — as pleas- 
ant incidents, as the roughing of an outing, in 
which we were seeking adventure and danger of 
sport. 



210 THE ^^\II-^Y C-\MP.AIGXS 

The faD and winter iiad nearly passed by -wixB. 
an eveni took place in my life liiat o5ered ine 
mnch pleasure and nsefnl experience. My f atier 
had important br ism ess viii the Confederate 
Government wiiich called n'Tm to Rirhmood, tben 
tne capital of the South, and the great center of 
military operations. Richmond had been se- 
ciuely held by the Confederate troops, but was 
still the objective point of attack. It was held 
by the Federal authorilnes that the backbone of 
the Confederary conld best be broken by the cap- 
ture of its capital. It was a diScult place to de- 
fend, as it was open to attack by land and water. 
and regurred large forces to protect it. It had 
little strategic value except for its railroad com- 
mtniications and a few old aimorie? and flour 
mills. Its resident popnlatian was not over 30,- 
OOD peisons- It was simply the capital of Mt- 
ginia and of the Confederate States, and from this 
point of Tiew it had only a sentimental ralne, — 
01 peihats was a moial force. 

When my father propc^ed to take me to Rich- 
mond a great pleasure opened up before my 
visian ; for I had lired all my life in a small Til- 
lage and had never seen a city larger than Win- 
chester, which had only some 3.000 population. 

We left home on the early morning of !March 
17, 1863, in a two-horse spring wagon, with 
canvas on top and sides. ^ly companions were 



VISIT TO aiCHMCffra 211 

mv tsdnET. 3. ynrmg lieaBmant in the Canipdcrste 
army. — wiio f^tfr besi Hfimf iin roiiansn- — ma 
Uncie Lewis, aur dny^. 

The day wie caicL srui i lisrit rain witfi sie^ 
m:ufe tfie '^"^|^'«T^^il^'^ miiM rmi'fffri |(i(';trnp. "vniie 
the road wns nmdtiy :jnrf in die wrns: aossMe crrm- 
rrTT~nn ror LLiiveL ^^e wifT^ ' " t itt » ^sn"^ nicmi- 
rng rrTTrrT darit gnrng a cnsnmce <ar rTr^rrr-ire 
mile Wtp^ Tigtrr avttrjxjk ^js we auuued it 
the house at jh aid ^crdemaii -^n-jiz^ rry fiirhfr 
knew, md who lived an die road. bei"*er3. Suery- 
viHe jnd Colnerre- Canrr House. ArDer i hearyr 
iuirce" I was iad. tj aa to beo: Trrrr was soon ^i nnd 
jsle^u. Berore (r^tyhi yik- we w^t? -in ^nrr rodv 
to f^mne jiir jcniniey. We rcHmei CaiD^c" 
CcTtLr: House ibour S aciock in die mcmiins, in 
time tn dnd jccjinmcfdiiEians for Umzie Lewis md 
the team while we w^t? in SichmoncL tnti to tnke^ 
the raLLToad train that was ta cany as tn tiie Con- 
federare capioL 

Culc'ep^- Court House was ar tr 

cdcer of Tnitmry operarions. and _. . - 

ot troops wee encamped: in and aroraid the 7 
It was aH busde and confason. The Canrccc-- 
CTare army was posted alons: tim risht hank of 
the p.-—-:-- ^ ...,- ,:_- -ij^ 

moun' - ■ .. _: r ne 

advance of the Fede^il army :ied by Gea^ 

era! Joe Hooker, better 'snown tnen is ' Ftshtrns: 



212 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Joe Hooker," McClellan had been removed to 
make place for Burnside, and now Bumside had 
been removed to make place for Hooker. The 
new commander was expected to do great things. 
He had not yet tested the strength of Lee's sword. 

The train on which we had taken passage was 
made up of passenger coaches and freight cars. It 
was crowded with soldiers and army attaches and 
weighted down with freight. The locomotive 
was scarcely equal to the work imposed on it and 
we could not make over 8 or lo miles an hour. 
When we came to the Rapidan River we found it 
so high from recent rains that it was not deemed 
safe for the locomotive to cross the bridge. 
Therefore we had to cross on foot and wait on 
the bank for a train from Orange Court House 
to take us on our journey. 

It was long after dark when we reached the 
depot in Richmond. We took a bus and were 
carried to the Exchange and Ballard House, then 
the leading hotel in Richmond and the headquar- 
ters of Confederate officers and public officials on 
duty in the capital. 

The next morning while taking breakfast Gen- 
eral This and Colonel That, conspicuous in uni- 
form, were seated at the different tables, while 
Senators, Congressmen, and other important per- 
sonages were at breakfast or in the lobby. All 
this gave a very distinguished air to the company, 



VISIT TO RICHMOND 213 

and being all so new to me it greatly excited my 
curiosity, and I asked my father innumerable ques- 
tions, many of which he was unable to answer. 

After breakfast I went with my father to the 
Governor's mansion and to various public build- 
ings where he had business to attend to. Some 
of these buildings were on the capitol grounds 
and while my father was attending to his work I 
strolled around and saw the Confederate Senate 
and Congress in session, and took in the general 
situation from a boy's point of view. When 
standing on the portico in front of the capitol 
I saw several distinguished looking citizens talk- 
ing to a young Confederate officer. My curiosity 
overcame my modesty and I joined the company 
to hear the general topics of conversation. I am 
only able to recall one subject. The officer was 
so young and boyish looking that one of the 
gentlemen asked him his age. He replied that 
he was 19, a native of a Southern State, and held 
the rank of colonel of a regiment. Although 
dressed in the full uniform of a colonel, he looked 
more like a cadet than a man in high authority. I 
knew enough of history at that time to recall that 
Alexander the Great was in full command of the 
Macedonian army at that early age, and that 
Napoleon was already a distinguished officer when 
in his teens. This young Southern Napoleon was 
very modest and unassuming. I have often won- 



214 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

dered what fate he met with as the war pro- 
gressed. 

My father was a very busy man but he showed 
me as much of Richmond as possible. One night 
the young lieutenant who had accompanied us 
from home took me to the theater. It was my 
first sight of a place of amusement of this char- 
acter and I recall my excitement and my interest 
in the play. It was a tragedy of some kind, 
made up of stirring and bloody scenes that seemed 
too real for amusement. It was as much as my 
companion could do to suppress my excitement. 
I vividly recall one Sunday morning during my 
visit my father took me to services in the Epis- 
copal church that had as its rector the distin- 
guished divine, Dr. Minnegerode. 

After we were seated Mr. Davis, President of 
the Confederate States, walked down the aisle un- 
attended and took a seat in front of the altar. He 
was a regular attendant of St. Paul's church, and 
his presence usually attracted a large congregation. 
The minister in his prayer prayed for the Presi- 
dent of the Confederate States and "all others 
in authority." After the close of the service the 
congregation stood while Mr. Davis walked down 
the aisle, then followed him from the church. 
This was the only time I ever saw Mr. Davis. 

This visit to Richmond was exceedingly satis- 
factory to me. I had actually seen the capital of 



VISIT TO RICHMOND 215 

the Confederacy, and had observed the scenes be- 
hind the seat of war where the affairs of the new 
nation were being directed, where all the policies 
of the Government were organized, and where the 
hopes of the Southern cause were centered. 

It was evident from the preparations that were 
being, and had been, made for the defense of Rich- 
mond that the Confederate authorities had no 
intention of ever abandoning that city as the capi- 
tal of the Government until forced by the might 
of arms to do so. Richmond had become the cen- 
ter for the manufacture and storage of military 
supplies; it had large hospitals and prisons, and 
had grown by the influx of people who were either 
connected with the Government or had been 
driven from their homes by the fortunes of war 
and had sought a refuge in this city. If any 
place were safe from the invasion of the enemy, 
they argued, Richmond was that place. More- 
over the activity and business life of the city 
offered opportunities for making a living not 
found in other localities. 

The cost of living was high, but Confederate 
money was plentiful and could be had in large 
sums in exchange for anything anyone had to 
sell. One hundred or two hundred dollars a 
week for board did not come high when one dollar 
in gold was worth from 25 to 50 dollars in Con- 
federate money. The lower the value of the 



2i6 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

paper dollar the higher the value of the com- 
modity it would buy, hence the denomination did 
not regulate values; it was only a basis of ex- 
change. Even the soldier in the ranks, who re- 
ceived the low wage in Confederate currency, was 
able to pay the high prices through the unbounded 
supply which came to him in many ways. If he 
was lucky enough to make a capture in battle or 
to hold up a prisoner with a few silver or gold 
dollars, he reaped a fortune in Confederate 
money. In 1863 a captured horse would bring 
from $500 to $5000 in Confederate money, and a 
pair of boots from $50 to $200; so the dollar grew 
cheaper and the article it purchased dearer. 
These were only relative conditions in the nature 
of the transaction, provided the seller and buyer 
could come to a basis of exchange. The vital 
significance of the situation was what it indicated : 
the rotten and worthless financial policy of the 
Government and loss of respect for civil authority. 



CHAPTER XIX 

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOME OF THE LEADERS OF 
THE '6o's. THE CONFEDERATE POLICY AND 
THE FEDERAL. 

I HAVE often wondered why the Confederate 
Government did not abandon Richmond early in 
the war and fall back either to Lynchburg, Char- 
lottesville, or Danville, where the enemy would 
be drawn further away from its supplies and more 
exposed to flank movements. During the Third 
Silesian War Frederick the Great abandoned 
Berlin, his capital, and carried his government 
with him in the field. He was driven from pillar 
to post, defeated here and there, yet he held his 
ground for over seven years until he finally won 
success for his country. 

No such policy seemed to guide the Confederate 
authorities. It was simply "hold on to Richmond 
or go down in disaster." To all appearances 
Richmond was more important to the Confederacy 
than the cause they were fighting for, a policy 
that has never appealed to my judgment. 

General Lee, Mr. Davis, and others in authority 
no doubt knew best what to do, but if they were 

familiar with the history of Frederick during the 

217 



2i8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Silesian war, it is singular that they did not see 
the wisdom of his policy. The Confederate au- 
thorities were trying to force a foreign recogni- 
tion of the Confederate Government, first, by with- 
holding cotton, and second, by maintaining its 
dignity through holding the Southern capital. 
If this statement is true, then both policies were 
wrong. War loses its dignity when the enemy 
has you by the throat and is trying to squeeze the 
life out of you; when that happens the time has 
come for daring and extreme measures, and the 
only dignified thing to do is to force the enemy 
to release his hold and come back at him in the 
undignified way. Meet him on his own ground, 
not by parry and thrust, but by stabs, cuts, — any- 
way to overcome him. 

The Southern people have prided themselves on 
the self-sacrificing efforts they made for their 
cause. They seemed to think it was better to go 
down in defeat maintaining high standards of 
chivalry, honor, and a pride of noble defense. 

Did the North take this view of the war'? Not 
by any means. It was simply a matter of cold 
business calculation. She spent her money, hired 
foreign troops, enlisted the negro, robbed and pil- 
laged Southern homes, and by every means, — fair 
or foul, — tried to wear out and destroy her enemy. 
This she finally did. That was the Northern idea 
of war. "War is hell," says General Sherman. 



THE CONFEDERATE POLICY 219 

In theory and practice he was right. Why the 
Southern leaders did not take this view and fight 
the devil with his own fire I fail to see. There 
is no humanity in being courteous to an enemy 
that is trying to take your life. The human thing 
to do is to take his life first and the consequences 
later. 

Richmond was held until the last; and when 
Richmond was abandoned the Confederacy col- 
lapsed. This is about all that can be said. 

Thousands of lives and millions of money were 
sacrificed in holding a position that could only 
be defended by large armies. When the Con- 
federate army was used up by death and starvation 
Richmond fell and the few men left retreated into 
the interior. Only a corporal's guard was left to 
maintain the contest, and General Lee — perhaps 
wisely — made a surrender when completely sur- 
rounded by the enemy. The heart of this noble 
man and soldier was broken when he gave up the 
cause he had for four years led in battle with a 
success that has astonished the student of military 
history. General Lee was a great soldier, per- 
haps among the greatest the world has ever known, 
and he was as great in soul and character as he 
was in military genius. He lacked only one ele- 
ment of strength; he was not a great politician 
and administrator of civil affairs. He deferred to 
the civil authorities and took little or no part in 



220 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the policies and conduct of the Government. 
Had he been a dictator, a man of the type of 
Napoleon, of Cromwell, or of Frederick the Great, 
in all probability the fate of the Confederacy 
would have been different. 

The President and his whole cabinet would have 
been overruled, and a strong military power would 
have directed the policy of the Government. 
Had the civil Government been conducted as the 
armies were handled, few mistakes would have 
been made. Mr. Davis assumed the role of 
statesman and soldier. One or the other he might 
have been. In both capacities he was neither 
fitted by temperament nor hard common sense to 
measure up to. His zeal, loyalty, and devotion 
to the cause have never been questioned. No man 
tried harder to do his duty as he saw it. No man 
suffered more from the consequences of the war. 
His blunders were honestly made, but they are 
open to criticism and have received all the con- 
sideration to which they were entitled. It is not 
my purpose to open up a discussion upon which 
history has already passed its verdict. 

Mr. Davis was a pure and upright man. He 
was a great patriot, but he was not a leader for 
such a cause as the South had espoused. His 
dignified bearing, his flowery oratory, his chivalric 
nature invested him with an importance that he 
did not possess. He had knowledge, talents, and 



THE CONFEDERATE POLICY 221 

great personal gifts, but he did not have wisdom. 
He was preeminently a preacher, not a doer of 
practical and sensible things. His executive 
ability was not far seeing and orderly. His tal- 
ents were not constructive. His knowledge of 
men was poor and was narrowed by his prejudices. 
The difficulties surrounding him were great, and 
he failed to grasp the details and consequences of 
passing events. Charles Dickens has said that 
Bishop Laud was the most learned man of his day 
in England — and the biggest fool. He had vast 
knowledge and no common sense. David Gar- 
rick, in speaking of Oliver Goldsmith, remarked 
that he wrote like an angel and spoke like 
poor Poll. General Lee, in commenting on the 
campaign of McClellan, said that he knew every 
movement he would make because he knew his 
training. These comments upon the character- 
istics of great men go to show that genius and 
learning are often narrow in their scope, and that 
the possession of great talents in one line of in- 
tellectual effort does not imply that the individual 
is thereby qualified for a high order of work in 
another direction. 

Mr. Davis was gifted in debate and in oratory. 
He was a power in the United States Senate, and 
in forensic discussion; but as the executive of a 
great revolution he was out of place and he filled 
the executive chair with as much abilitv as a bank 



222 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

president could lead an army. The Confederate 
Government needed at its head as president a 
man of great constructive ability, of initiative, of 
large executive talents, and vigorous common 
sense. Mr. Lincoln possessed these gifts to a 
much larger extent than did Mr. Davis. Had 
Mr. Lincoln been at the head of the Confederate 
Government, and Mr. Davis president of the 
United States, who doubts the success of the 
South? 

As I remember Mr. Davis, — on the only occa- 
sion that I saw him, — he was rather tall, slender, 
and erect in stature, distinguished and graceful in 
carriage, and dignified in his bearing and general 
make-up. His face was shaved and his hair, 
somewhat tinged with gray, was not overabun- 
dant. His nose was well formed, his eyes pierc- 
ing, his face thin and drawn with care and 
thought. His appearance did not indicate robust 
physical health but rather a wiry, elastic energy 
that would endure hard work and exacting duty. 
His countenance indicated refinement, culture, and 
a spirit of quiet force and determination. He 
looked the type of the minister, the poet, the 
orator, or the philosopher, anything other than 
the soldier, the great executive, the man of detail 
and fiery energy. 

In stature and physical build he was the op- 
posite of Lee, of Jackson, and of Lincoln. Lee 



THE CONFEDERATE POLICY 223 

was an Apollo in his physical make-up; Jackson 
was a homely, ungraceful and plain man in his 
carriage but he was endowed with an activity and 
energy of body and spirit that no labor could 
break down; Mr. Lincoln was a giant in height, 
with a frame as rugged as it was homely and 
striking in manner and personality. All these 
great men differed as widely in their intellectual 
and spiritual gifts as they differed in physique. 
Each represented a type, and the distinguished 
part that each played was largely due to his fitness 
for the work undertaken. Mr. Davis seemed to be 
the only one improperly classed. 

Greater perhaps than any one of the three men 
I have mentioned in those gifts of mind that stand 
for the highest intellectual attainments and no- 
bility of soul, he needed that power <of action and 
balance of judgment so necessary to the great 
leader of desperate situations. He was not pre- 
eminently a man of action, of desperate resolu- 
tion, or of fiery passions. His mind was a store- 
house of knowledge, of beautiful thought, of in- 
tense patriotism, of deep conviction, trained to 
move men by language of fliowery speech and deep 
emotion, not by vigorous, daring, and bold ad- 
venture. 

America has produced few men who have 
equaled Mr. Davis in purity and nobility of char- 
acter and in those higher gifts of mind that make 



224 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

great names in history. It is unfortunate for 
his fame that circumstances made him the leader 
of a great movement that needed different char- 
acteristics from those which he possessed. 

Mr. Lincoln was not a man of scholarly educa- 
tion, of wide learning, or of great oratorical power, 
yet he had the genius of common sense, the faculty 
of saying and doing the right thing at the right 
time. His knowledge of men, his clear views 
of the political situation, his powers of leadership 
were phenomenal. His clear, concise, and pa- 
triotic oration at Gettysburg placed him in the 
front rank of the world's great orators. Neither 
Demosthenes nor Cicero, Burke nor Sheridan, 
Webster nor Clay ever touched the hearts of na- 
tions as did Mr. Lincoln by his great classic. 

History has shown that men have been raised 
up for important occasions. Great leaders have 
been discovered. Circumstances have molded the 
man for the occasion as much as the occasion 
has molded the man. When the leader has not 
measured up to the occasion he has gone down in 
disaster. It was unfortunate for Mr. Davis that 
he had in his cabinet but one or two men who 
were really strong and well-trained advisers. 
The Department of the Treasury and the De- 
partment of War were badly conducted. The 
finances of the Confederacy, especially, were con- 
ducted on the weakest financial basis. The credit 



THE CONFEDERATE POLICY 225 

of the Government was discounted in the very be- 
ginning of the war. The South had little gold 
and silver currency, and no mines that yielded 
these precious metals in any quantity. She had, 
however, a staple product that always commanded 
a ready market. "Cotton was king" ; and the 
Confederate Government bought cotton with treas- 
ury bonds and currency, hoarded it, and then 
failed to use this great staple to any advantage. 
During the first two years of the war the Southern 
ports were practically open, and it was possible 
then to have shipped millions of bales of cotton to 
foreign markets in exchange for army supplies or 
as a basis of credit for future use. The oppor- 
tunity was lost and the Government burned enor- 
mous quantities to prevent it from falling into the 
hands of the enemy. 

The rapid depreciation of Confederate notes 
and bonds indicated the weakness of the Govern- 
m.ent and the worthlessness of its credit. 

The Department of War was about as inef- 
ficient as the Department of the Treasury. It 
failed to supply arms, clothes, and food for the 
men in the field, and but for the supplies cap- 
tured from the Northern armies the military re- 
sources of the Government would have been ex- 
hausted long before they were. It is a sad com- 
mentary upon the war that the Southern cause 
was so greatly handicapped by the weakness of the 



226 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

civil administration. In the light of the present it 
is very easy to see conditions that were not fully 
apparent at the time, yet as a small boy I heard 
the criticisms that I have made here expressed by 
some of our old citizens in our village. They saw 
the drift of things and deplored them, yet they 
were powerless to change conditions. 

The Legislative Department was as inefficient 
as the Administrative. Both the Senate and 
Lower House of the Confederate Congress were 
rank with the poison of Bourbonism. Old men, 
old methods, old manners, and old dignities 
hedged in the thought and actions of men who 
were unable to see the signs of the times and the 
need of progressive and vigorous measures. If 
there is on the statute books of the Confederate 
regime one single act of legislation that shows an 
original and up-to-date measure, I have never 
heard of it. The vital questions of the hour, the 
larger views of government, the development of 
new and bold policies in civil administration were 
lost sight of in the minds of men who were 
clouded by age and blinded by impracticable 
ideals of patriotism. The cause of the South was 
a desperate one. It needed men bold in courage 
and resourcefulness, keen in thought and action, 
full of initiative, and vigorous in progressiveness. 
Did the South have these men at the head of her 
civil affairs? Who will answer yes? 



CHAPTER XX 

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 

During the spring of 1863 our village was visited 
only once by the Federal troops. On this occa- 
sion a regiment of cavalry came and remained in 
camp one day. It marched into the village on a 
rainy and fogg)^ morning about the last of April, 
and went into camp in a piece of woods near my 
home. As the men marched up the pike they were 
wearing rubber blankets over their overcoats and 
looked quite uncomfortable. The roads were 
muddy, and the weather was about as disagreeable 
as one could experience. After passing a short 
distance in front of my home the regiment turned 
to the right and entered a grove. A halt was 
made by the column; and while the soldiers were 
on their horses, waiting for orders to move, one or 
two of the men dismounted and stood at rest. 

There happened to be a number of chickens and 
turkeys belonging to my mother browsing on the 
grass in a meadow in which they were standing. 
An old gobbler was strutting around with his tail 
feathers erect and his head ornaments displayed 
to their best advantage to attract the attention 

of the female members of the turkey family. He 

227 



228 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

was very proud of his ornaments and seemed 
trying to attract attention by an occasional "gob- 
ble, gobble." One of the soldiers, noticing his 
antics, approached him, and taking a red hand- 
kerchief, shook it in the face of the gobbler. 
The old bird at once put up a fight and gave chase. 
The man played with him a few minutes when 
an idea struck him, and drawing his saber, he de- 
liberately cut off the gobbler's head with one 
stroke. He then picked up the old bird and 
carried it to his horse. In less time than I can 
tell the story the men jumped down from their 
horses and gave chase to the other turkeys and 
chickens in the field. They ran them down until 
they had killed all that did not make their escape 
in the weeds and under buildings. 

In a few minutes the order of march was 
given and the men moved on a short distance and 
then dismounted and went into camp. They had 
scarcely taken the places assigned to them when 
they rushed down to the barn on our place and 
ripped off all the plank on the sides of the build- 
ing and carried it to their camp to make covering 
to protect them from the rain, as it was still 
drizzling. Not satisfied with the demolition of 
the barn they took all the hay and grain they 
could find, and then began to plunder the out- 
buildings in search of anything that would add 
to their comfort. They made a raid on the hen- 



SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 229 

house and poultry yard, and ran down every fowl 
that came within their reach. 

As a forest of weeds and briars had grown up 
around the garden and barn the poultry ran into 
this retreat and many escaped. 

While they were engaged in all this plunder 
several amusing incidents occurred that show the 
low type of men and the mean characters our peo- 
ple had to contend with at that time. After all 
the poultry within reach had been dispatched 
these men discovered a pen of small shoats near 
the barn. The pigs were small but fat, and a 
good size for a roast. Two of the men jumped 
into the pen and caught one of the pigs that be- 
gan to squeal. 

From the house Aunt Susan heard the noise at 
the pen, and she picked up a butcher-knife and 
ran for the pen as fast as she could go. When 
she reached the place one of the men was climb- 
ing over the side with one of the shoats, which 
he had killed, while the other man in the pen was 
trying to catch a pig. Susan jumped into the pen, 
with the butcher-knife, and, with a voluble out- 
pour of profanity, defied the man to take her pig 
and threatened him with the point of the knife, 
if he did not get out at once and let her pigs 
alone. The fellow quietly climbed out and re- 
turned to camp with his companion who already 
had the dead pig. 



230 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Susan remained at the pen for a short time tof 
see whether anyone would come to steal the 
pigs. She then returned to the house, and was 
preparing the dinner when a soldier came in the 
kitchen with an old hen he had killed and de- 
manded to know where he could find hot water 
to scald the feathers. Without waiting for an 
answer, he discovered a large pot on the stove and, 
raising the cover, he plunged the hen in the boil- 
ing contents, which happened to be soup that 
Susan was cooking for dinner. 

The old negress caught the man in the act, 
and seizing the butcher-knife, made a dig at him; 
but fortunately it did not hurt him. He took 
alann, however, and rushed out of the kitchen as 
fast as his feet would carry him, taking the hen 
with him. Susan chased him out of the yard 
and called him by some very ugly names, which 
I will not repeat. She had hardly driven this 
man away and returned to her work in the kitchen 
when she heard a noise in the yard, and going out 
the door, saw several men breaking the door of the 
smokehouse. They had gotten inside and had 
begun to take the meat when Susan arrived on 
the scene. 

In a violent rage she ordered these men out and 
they quietly departed; but as they were leaving 
one of the men saw a turkey hen seated on her 
nest in a flour barrel. He jerked up the barrel 



SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 231 

and started to take it with him, but Susan seized 
the barrel and made him let go. The men left 
at length, and Susan won the day. The old 
negress took the turkey hen in the barrel into the 
house and kept it there until the regiment left. 
This old turkey hatched a litter of fifteen, every 
one of which Susan raised to adult life, and they 
gave us a winter's supply. 

Early the following morning the regiment 
broke camp and left our village. In the short 
time they were in camp they came near cleaning 
up our home of all articles of food for man and 
beast. Had it not been for Susan, nothing would 
have been left. This old negress claimed every- 
thing on the place as her property, and she defied 
the right of these soldiers to take what belonged 
to her. My father always gave Susan and Lewis 
the privilege of raising with his stock a pig or 
calf, which he fed and bought when it was sold. 

This he did in consideration of the attention 
they gave in caring for the stock and milking the 
cows. In addition, my mother gave Susan a 
small interest in the poultry that she managed 
exclusively, with great success. Lewis had as 
an allowance a small piece of land, on which he 
raised broom corn, tobacco, and melons. Dur- 
ing the last two years of the war these old negroes 
practically ran the entire place and raised what 
food supplies we needed. 



232 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The morning the regiment of cavalry left their 
camp they were unable to take with them a fine 
young mare which was so lame that she could not 
put one foot to the ground. I found her and 
brought her home. With Uncle Lewis' assist- 
ance I nursed her lame foot until she was able to 
walk with some comfort. We sent her to the 
farm where she was kept for over a year, when 
a raiding party of Federal cavalry came along 
and took her and the remainder of the horses on 
the farm, except an unbroken colt that was so 
wild that they could not catch her. This colt 
was the only horse left us at the close of the war. 

As the armies were passing through our county 
they frequently left their old, lame, and blind 
horses which our people took care of and made 
useful on the farm. A horse of any value for 
military purposes was pressed into service by one 
or the other armies, the only difference being that 
the Confederates usually gave a consideration for 
the animal and the Federals took it by force. 
One day a boy of my age was riding along the 
road when he met unexpectedly a squad of Fed- 
eral cavalry riding in great haste. His horse was 
an indifferent one, but one of the men dismounted 
from his horse, which was winded and about 
broken down, took the horse that the boy was rid- 
ing, and left his own horse with the boy. 

It was a cold-blooded hold-up, but the boy got 



SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 233 

the advantage as the horse he received soon rested 
up and turned out to be a useful animal. 

After the experience that I have related we 
saw no Federal troops until after the battle of 
Gettysburg in July, 1863. We lived rather 
quietly, so far as disturbances from the enemy 
were concerned, until the summer of 1864. Our 
farmers cultivated their land and did the best 
they could with their crops considering the con- 
ditions of labor and the poor material they had 
to work with. We had little stock, and, as we 
were a grazing people, our grass lands were idle 
and overgrown with weeds. The fencing was so 
indifferent that it was difficult to get fields en- 
closed to raise grain. 

In the spring of 1863 the Federal outpost was 
located at Winchester. We were practically 
within the Confederate lines. The military 
operations were removed from the Valley to 
eastern Virginia. The two great armies were 
facing each other along the banks of the Rappa- 
hannock. On April the 27th the Federal army 
began its first movement in the third advance on 
Richmond. The Confederate forces were on the 
alert for this advance and were concentrated in 
the front of Hooker in the country around 
Chancellors ville. On May 1st Hooker had 
crossed the Rappahannock and had attempted, by 
a flank movement, to get in the rear of Lee's 



234 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

army, assuming that the position of the Confed- 
erate forces had not changed and that the main 
body was divided and in a different position to 
that which he subsequently discovered. On May 
2d Jackson had moved his corps around the 
right wing of Hooker, and late in the afternoon 
made an assault on the Federals, — an assault that 
completely routed their forces and drove them 
back. 

General Howard, with twenty regiments of 
infantry and six batteries, held the right wing of 
Hooker's army. It was late in the afternoon 
when Stonewall Jackson hurled his entire force 
against Howard's men and by a rapid advance, 
which was not expected, drove in the Federal 
pickets in confusion and soon had the Federal 
forces in rapid retreat. 

The right wing of Hooker's army was com- 
pletely crushed, and the battle of Chancellorsville 
was won. This was a great victory for the Con- 
federates and put a stop to any further advance 
on Richmond. The victory was dearly purchased 
as it resulted in the wounding and subsequent 
death of Stonewall Jackson. In the impatience 
of the battle he was in the advance of his lines 
and became separated from the position he should 
have occupied. In the darkness and confusion he 
and his associates were fired upon, and Jackson 
received three bullet wounds, — one in the right 



SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 235 

hand, and two in the left arm, cutting the main 
artery and fracturing the bone below the shoulder. 
His horse, mad with terror, plunged into the 
woods and an overhanging bough came near un- 
horsing him. He managed to get into the road 
but he had sustained such a shock in his wounds 
and loss of blood that he fell from his saddle into 
the arms of one of his attendants. 

After lingering and suffering greatly from his 
wounds, Jackson passed away on May 10, 1863, 
and with his death the South lost the greatest 
soldier, next to Lee, that the war produced. 
History is filled with his deeds and with a review 
of his character. As a military genius the world 
has few men who have reached the position he 
attained ; as a man and patriot his name will long 
live among the great characters of histor}^ His 
general make-up was so extraordinary that he 
stands in a class almost alone among the heroes 
and soldiers of all ages. It is not pertinent to 
this story to discuss the details of his life, so much 
better done by his biographers and by historians 
of the war. 

The battle of Chancellorsville was renewed on 
the 4th, 5th, and 6th of May, and on the evening 
of the 6th Hooker withdrew his army across the 
Rappahannock and escaped the hands of Lee. 
The Army of the Potomac returned to its old 
camp along the north bank of the Rappahannock, 



236 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

while the Army of Northern Virginia remained 
on the defensive and began to prepare for the ag- 
gressive movement that it made in the latter 
weeks of May when it began the invasion of 
Maryland and Pennsylvania. 

The battle of Chancellorsville was hardly con- 
tested and resulted in heavy losses to both 
armies. The Federal loss was over 17,000 men 
and the Confederate loss was over 12,000. The 
Federal forces numbered some 130,000 men, and 
the Confederate forces were less than 70,000. 
The results were great for the South and the hopes 
of our people were again alive with encourage- 
ment. The Confederate army was never in bet- 
ter physical condition, and its morale was greatly 
elevated. The men had been seasoned and 
hardened to service, and as success had crowned 
their efforts they began to feel that they were 
invincible. On the other hand, it was evident 
that their forces were being gradually reduced 
by losses in battle and new recruits were not to 
be had in large numbers. Whilst the Federal 
armies had met with repeated disasters, and while 
their numbers had been reduced by heavy losses, 
the resources of the North in men and money were 
great and new men could be enlisted as fast as 
the armies were depleted. The North had shown 
great determination and persistence in her efforts 
to subdue the South, and there was no apparent 



SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 237 

relaxation of these efforts. The policy of the 
Federal Government had changed, and by the 
recent proclamation by the President of the 
United States, emancipating the negro, the peo- 
ple of the South were brought face to face with 
new conditions. 

The practical conditions were now reduced to 
the simple problem of endurance. The resources 
of the South were being exhausted by losses of 
men in battle and by losses of property and terri- 
tory by the invasion of Federal troops. Her 
vitality and strength were being gradually sapped, 
while the North had hardly felt the losses she had 
sustained. It was quite evident at this time that 
the hope of foreign intervention was a forlorn one, 
and that no aid could be expected from outside 
sources. The contest was an unequal one, in which 
the enemy had all the advantage in wealth, in 
men, and in the sentiment of the civilized world. 

The military achievements of the Confederacy 
had been marked with distinguished success. 
There was no fault with the men who did the 
fighting. The whole fault was with the policy 
of the Government at Richmond. The South 
was finally whipped and worn out by her losses 
in battle and destruction of property. Starvation 
and death brought submission and humiliation. 
In the final estimate she lost her slaves, and she 
lost the government she was trying to establish 



238 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

on a basis of slavery. The only thing she saved 
out of the wreck was the heroism of her armies. 

After the victory of Chancellorsville it became 
evident that the time had come for the invasion 
of the North. It was believed that by trans- 
ferring the operations of the war to Maryland and 
Pennsylvania the people in Virginia would have 
a rest and the opportunity to cultivate crops for 
the support of the armies and people. By liv- 
ing off of other States the army could be fed and 
cared for at less expense. This was probably one 
of the motives which led Lee to invade Maryland. 
The moral effect of the invasion was also a strong 
motive. Could a heavy blow be given the Fed- 
eral army on Northern territory, its effect upon 
the results of the war would be highly beneficial. 

An army operating on the defense and on its 
own ground has a distinct advantage over an army 
that is making an aggressive campaign; hence 
General Lee assumed a great responsibility when 
he changed his policy of defense to one of inva- 
sion of hostile territory. By this act he gave the 
enemy the advantage he had occupied up to this 
time. He based his hopes of success upon the 
valor and courage of his well-trained men rather 
than upon the number and equipment of his 
forces. He had calculated to live off of the in- 
vaded country, and to draw large supplies of 
clothes and military material from the territory 



SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1863 239 

through which he would pass. His previous ex- 
perience in the Maryland campaign of 1862 had 
taught him that he could not expect large addi- 
tions to his forces from the States he invaded, so 
that the material advantages of the invasion he 
probably considered of less importance than the 
moral effect. In the light of the results it can 
not be claimed that the Gettysburg campaign was 
a success from any point of view, but, to the con- 
trar}', was the high-water mark of the Confederate 
cause and the first great loss of prestige the army 
under Lee met. After the great contest of arms 
at Gettysburg the Army of Northern Virginia was 
never the same. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 

In the latter part of June, 1863, the Confederate 
army broke camp on the Rappahannock and be- 
gan the march north in the direction of western 
Maryland. The main route of march was across 
the Blue Ridge, through Chester's Gap by way 
of our village. 

The force under General Lee amounted to 
over 70,000 men, including infantry, cavalry, and 
artillery. This large body of men were three 
days in passing through our place, and they pre- 
sented a most interesting and impressive sight. 
It was the largest army I had ever seen or have 
seen since, and I recall a number of incidents con- 
nected with the march. The men were in splen- 
did condition and in high spirits. As they passed 
through the village the soldiers closed up their 
ranks and the bands played as if on parade. The 
artiller}' and the wagons, interspersed between the 
different commands, added to the impressiveness 
of the occasion and gave a good idea of the details 
and appurtenances of war. 

Two miles north of the village this large body 

of men had to cross the Shenandoah River at a 

240 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 241 

point where the north and south branches meet 
to make the main river. At this confluence a 
pontoon bridge had been placed, and the men, 
and wagons, and artillery had to cross in a narrow 
file. The passage of the army over the bridge 
was slow, and the marching columns were often 
delayed and had to rest by the roadside until the 
line of march could be continued. For miles the 
road was often blocked, and while the men were 
waiting for the order to march they had a merry 
time by the way. I recall one of these incidents 
as it made a lasting impression on me. 

The division commanded by General A. P. 
Hill was passing through the village and had to 
halt until the block at the river was open. It was 
in the early forenoon, and the day was somewhat 
foggy and damp. 

The men resting by the roadside and in the field 
adjoining were laughing at the pranks in which 
some of their comrades were engaged. The field 
was covered with bats, which were flying around, 
darting here and there, and coming so close to the 
ground that they could almost be reached with a 
long stick. The men were striking at these bats 
with sticks, bayonets, and guns, — anything, in 
fact, that they could find to throw at them. The 
fun was most exciting, and the men made perfect 
pandemonium as they tried to hit these swift-fly- 
ing little creatures. Though there were hundreds 



242 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

of men and an enormous number of bats, not one 
was struck. This fun lasted for a half-hour and 
only stopped when the order to march was given. 

General Hill and his staff, dismounted, were 
standing in a field near the road while this fun 
was going on and they entered into the sport with 
as much zest as the boys. The General laughed 
immoderately at the performances of the soldiers 
and laid aside all the graver cares of war. When 
the line of march was taken up I and several boys 
of about my age joined the men and went to the 
river to see them cross on the pontoon. We spent 
the entire day watching the different commands 
file across the bridge. It was a sight that few 
boys can ever see and was worth the time we gave 
to it. 

As we were marching along the road one of the 
men called me and asked me to carry his gun. 
This was just the thing I wanted to do and in a 
few minutes I was loaded down with guns. After 
carrying them a short distance I would give them 
back to their owners and in return they would 
give me a handful of caps. Before I reached the 
river my pockets were filled with caps. One of 
my boy companions was named Charlie. I called 
out, "Charlie, come and get this man's gun." In 
an instant the men along the line as far as we 
could hear took up the cry and called, "Charlie, 
Charlie, come and get my gun," so that before 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 243 

we reached the river Charlie had more guns and 
caps than he could carry and his name was known 
to every man in the command. 

This little incident will show some of the small 
things that make up a soldier's life, and how these 
men in daily contact with the hardships of march, 
life in camp, and on the firing line can find fun 
and real enjoyment. It was this spirit that often 
held men to the duties of military life, for with all 
its dangers and trials men often found satisfaction 
in camp life, on the march, and in the strife of 
battle. 

After the army had passed our way we were 
left within the Confederate lines and were in 
anxious expectation of the results from the front. 
General Lee pushed forward his men, and after 
crossing the Potomac he advanced through Mary- 
land into Pennsylvania. In the meantime the 
Federal army under General George Meade had 
assembled a large force near the line dividing the 
States of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the 
neighborhood of Emmetsburg and Gettysburg. 
The two armies were approaching and at length, 
on the afternoon of July 2d, 1863, they ran up 
against each other and the opening battle began 
at Gettysburg. 

In the first encounter the Federals were driven 
back through the town; but the Confederates 
failed to occupy the strong position on the heights 



244 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

south, known as Cemetery Hill. The battle was 
renewed on the 3d and 4th with desperate fighting 
on both sides. The advantage was with the 
Federals as they were on the defensive and held 
very strong positions. 

In the assaults made by the Confederates dur- 
ing the second and third days the losses were 
very heavy and the position was firmly held by 
the Federals. The celebrated charge made on the 
4th of July by General Pickett's command has 
gone down in history. At the close of the third 
day's battle the two armies were so badly crippled 
that neither ventured to renew the fight. General 
Lee withdrew his army and retired to the south 
bank of the Potomac. He was not closely fol- 
lowed by the Federal forces. 

The battle of Gettysburg was very disastrous 
in its final results to the Confederate cause. It 
was the high-water mark of the war and from that 
time on the success of the South was held in a 
balance until the final overthrow two years later. 

On the retreat of the Confederate army from 
Gettysburg it passed for the second time through 
our village. Its condition on the retreat was far 
different from that on its advance. The men and 
the equipments of the army plainly indicated the 
rough service that had been experienced. The 
ranks of many of the regiments were depleted, the 
horses and wagons were worn and broken down 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 245 

in many instances, and the morale of the troops 
had suffered greatly. There were many wounded 
and sick and a general indication of disorganiza- 
tion. Many of the men who had passed our way 
a few weeks before in high spirits and confident 
of victory had been left dead on the field of bat- 
tle or were wounded and prisoners in the hands of 
the enemy. It was a sad spectacle to our people 
and many hearts were in deep distress, for a num- 
ber of our boys had been killed and were buried 
on Northern soil, while others were wounded and 
in Northern prisons. 

A boy with whom I had gone to school was 
mortally wounded in a cavalry engagement at a 
place called Fairfield. Some of his comrades 
buried his body in the corner of the yard of a 
citizen, but while they were giving the last rites 
of burial they were being pressed by the Federal 
cavalry and had to leave before the grave was 
entirely covered with earth. This poor fellow 
still sleeps in the spot where his friends left him. 
On the retreat a regiment of Confederate infantry, 
in which there was a company from our county 
had been left on duty at Winchester and did not 
get across the Potomac. 

This regiment was sent in advance to hold one 
of the gaps of the Blue Ridge and to protect the 
line of retreat of the main army, which was to fol- 
low. In some wav I heard that these men were 



246 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

going to cross the river and also that a pontoon 
bridge would be thrown across the stream. 
With the curiosity of a boy I, with several of my 
companions, went out to the river in the early 
morning and saw the men cross, remaining all 
day on the bank to see the men make the pontoon 
bridge. 

The regiment had to ford before the bridge 
had been placed in position, and as the water was 
deep there was considerable difficulty in getting 
the men over. Some removed parts of their cloth- 
ing and others plunged in and waded through, re- 
gardless of clothes, carrying their arms and am- 
munition above their heads. After reaching the 
opposite bank they formed in line and took up 
their march. I did not go back to the village, but 
remained, as I have stated, to see pontoons laid. 

Late in the afternoon I returned home with 
my companions and on the way back met several 
Confederate soldiers with a Federal prisoner. I 
was not aware that the Federal army was within 
miles of our village and we asked the soldiers 
where they had got this prisoner. They then told 
us that the regiment we had seen crossing the 
river in the morning had scarcely taken a position 
in the Gap some four miles east of our place be- 
fore the Federal cavalry charged into their 
pickets and ran them in; that the regiment had 
hardly time to form when a general charge was 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 247 

made and a general engagement followed. The 
position of the regiment was well taken in a piece 
of timber which skirted the road as it curved 
around a deep ravine. When the head of the Fed- 
eral cavalry regiment charged down this road it 
practically ran into an ambush, and the Confed- 
erates poured a volley into its ranks, which killed 
17 horses and a number of men in a bend of the 
road within a distance of less than one hundred 
yards. 

The road was too narrow for the cavalry to 
retreat and it had to run the gauntlet of the fire 
until the distance was covered and they could 
spread out in the fields beyond the woods. A 
number of these Federals were captured. The 
regiment then formed in line and made an ad- 
vance to a position on a high hill, one mile be- 
yond the woods where they were encamped. In 
this position they formed in line of battle and 
waited for an assault from the enemy's forces. A 
deep ravine separated the two armies, now drawn 
up in line of battle on opposite hills, about one 
mile from each other. There was some exchange 
of firing and an advance and retreat, with only 
a few casualties. The color-bearer, Bob Bu- 
chanan, of the Confederate regiment was 
wounded in the right hip and thigh. This poor 
fellow was brought to my home the morning after 
the fight, and we cared for him for several months 



248 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

until he was able to go to a hospital in the interior. 
I shall have to say something about this soldier 
later on, for he has an interesting history, and he 
played an important part in my boyhood life while 
under treatment in my home. 

It was most fortunate for General Lee that the 
regiment here referred to had got in position as 
soon as it did and that it was able to hold the 
C»ap in the mountain until the main body of the 
army came up. It enabled the entire army to 
cross over into eastern Virginia by a direct route. 
But for this the entire army would have been 
torccd to retreat by way of the Shenandoah Val- 
ley and cross the Blue Ridge much further south. 
It would have given the Federal troops under 
General Meade the inner line of travel and the 
possession of Fredericksburg before the Confed- 
erates could have reached the place. 

On the following day the Federals attempted to 
force the Gap, but as the main body of the Fed- 
eral army had not come up and as Lee had placed 
a larger force in the Gap the place was securely 
held. I have a vivid recollection of a visit to the 
place where the engagement of the previous even- 
ing had taken place, then in the possession of the 
Confederates, — and this visit simply goes to illus- 
trate the character of a boy whose curiosity is 
often greater than his discretion. I did not ask 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 249 

my parents' permission, but with several of my 
companions undertook to go and see what a bat- 
tlefield looked like after the fight was over. It 
was not a prudent thing for a small boy to do, 
but I was not thinking of possibilities, being too 
deeply interested in what was going on. While 
we were seeing the sights of the day before, the 
two armies were drawn up in line of battle on 
opposite hills a mile away, and batteries of ar- 
tillery were in position to begin work at any mo- 
ment. No one knew at what moment an attack 
would begin. 

Scattered along the road and in fields by th» 
roadside the division of Texans, commanded by 
General Hood, was resting, under orders in 
broken ranks. These men were lying down un- 
der shade trees, wandering about the fields look- 
ing for berries and fruit, while some were eating, 
others were sleeping, and all were patiently wait- 
ing to be called to do battle. Under some cherry 
trees in the same field were Federal soldiers who 
had been wounded the day before and had not yet 
been carried to the hospital. I heard one of the 
Confederates remark that these men were mor- 
tally wounded and too near death to be dis- 
turbed. I also saw one dead Federal soldier, who 
had not yet been buried. He had been stripped 
of every stitch of clothing and was as naked as 



250 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

when he had come into this world. He had prob- 
ably been dead only a short time, for he was the 
only one not buried. 

The next evening the Federal army came up 
and made an attack but was repulsed. As the 
Federals were driven back, the Confederates fol- 
lowed, with a charge that drove the attacking 
party back to a very strong position. For sev- 
eral hours the artillery and infantry were en- 
gaged; no results followed other than the death 
of several hundred men and the wounding of 
many more. The Confederate wounded were 
brought to our village and were quartered in the 
hotel, then unoccupied. 

After the third day the entire army had passed 
through, and it was no longer necessary to hold 
the Gap. The Confederates withdrew, and the 
following morning the Federal army took posses- 
sion of our village. These men were in a desper- 
ate frame of mind and wherever they went they 
robbed and destroyed everything they could lay 
their hands on, sweeping the country through 
which they passed like a cyclone and inflicting 
great suffering on our citizens. The excuse they 
gave for this highway robbery was that the Con- 
federates had cleaned up things as they passed 
through Maryland and Pennsylvania, seeming to 
forget the fact that they had first set the example 
during their previous invasions of the South. 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 251 

An incident happened in my home at that time 
which explains the nature of the situation. Soon 
after the Federal troops entered the village a Fed- 
eral officer, dressed in the uniform of a colonel, 
rode up to our home, and dismounting, came to 
the front door, where he was met by some member 
of the family. He very politely asked if he could 
see a late Richmond paper. He was invited into 
the hall and a chair was given to him. We for- 
tunately had a late paper, which was handed to 
him and he quietly began to read it. In the 
meantime my mother came in and offered him a 
glass of ice water, which he accepted. She then 
offered him a glass of milk and a sandwich which 
he seemed to enjoy. While he was in the house 
a cavalryman rode up in the back yard and told 
one of the servants that he wanted all the silver 
in the house and that he intended to have it, draw- 
ing his pistol and commanding the servant to go 
and get the plate. In great alarm she went into 
the house and told my mother what the man had 
said; whereupon my mother went out to where 
the man was sitting on his horse. He then re- 
peated his threat. My mother went into the hall 
where the officer was seated and asked him to pro- 
tect her. He immediately went out and ordered 
the man to leave the place at once, taking his 
name and command and declaring that he would 
have him arrested as soon as he returned to his 



252 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

command. This officer remained in our house for 
several hours. We had no further trouble. Had 
he not been present this cavalryman would prob- 
ably have robbed us. I think, also, that the 
kindly way my mother had treated him had made 
him act as promptly as he did. We never learned 
his name, but we know that he was a gentleman 
and a true man. 

That same afternoon these Federal troops left 
our village and we did not see a Federal soldier for 
months. Our section of country was now free 
from military operations and we were at liberty 
to do as we pleased. The domestic life of the 
community now went along quietly and peace- 
fully and we lived for the time being as happily 
as circumstances would permit, considering the 
anxiety that beset many homes, as the men in the 
army were still exposed to casualties of war. 

When the Federals left they did not disturb the 
wounded soldiers in the hotel or other places where 
they had been left by their commands. These 
wounded men were cared for until able to resume 
duty. 

The young color-bearer who had been carried 
from the fight to our house with the two 
wounds in his thigh, was nursed as carefully as 
possible. We had no surgeons to dress his 
wounds, — which were flesh wounds, but were in- 
fected and discharged very freely, — and I soon 



THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN 253 

learned to dress them for him. He grew pale and 
thin but he was patient and appreciative and I 
became very fond of him. 

I would spend much of my time in his room 
trying to amuse him and he, in return, gave me 
many interesting accounts of his military experi- 
ences. He was only ig years of age and was the 
color sergeant of his regiment, in which position 
he was greatly exposed to danger in battle. He 
told me that three men had been killed carrying 
the flag before he had been promoted to the posi- 
tion. He had been wounded in the first engage- 
ment in which he had acted as color-bearer. I 
enjoyed the company of this young soldier and was 
sorry when he left. 

After he was able to walk on crutches he was 
eager to get within the lines, as he was appre- 
hensive that a raiding party would come and take 
him to prison. Late in the fall he went to Lynch- 
burg and entered a hospital, where, we afterward 
learned, he died of smallpox contracted there. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1863 

The fall and winter of 1863 brought quiet and 
rest to our community. The military operations 
of both armies had practically ceased in Virginia. 
The men went into winter quarters and only a 
few raiding parties of cavalry were now and then 
seen. A brigade of Confederate cavalry en- 
camped about two miles south of our village for 
some four or five weeks to rest their horses and 
secure food for the men and animals. It was a 
season of rest for man and beast. A number of 
the men who lived near were given short fur- 
loughs, as they lived near their homes and could 
report for duty in a few hours. Those who re- 
mained in camp amused themselves with different 
sports, among which was horse racing. Close to 
the encampment was a long and level river bot- 
tom that made an excellent race course. 

A most exciting race took place between horses 
belonging to Colonel Massie and Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel O'Farrell, of the 12th Virginia Regiment, — a 
race that I had the pleasure of witnessing. Colo- 
nel Massie owned a farm in the northern part of 
our county on which he raised some well-bred 

2S4 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1863 255 

colts. Among these colts was a three-year-old that 
had never been shod and was scarcely bridle-wise. 
It had been running in pasture with the cattle and 
had never had a touch of a currycomb. Its hair 
was long and coarse and, with its unkempt hair, it 
looked like a sheep. The boys on the farm had 
discovered that the colt was a fast runner. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel O'Farrell had a very handsome and 
showy horse, full of spirit and energy, but, like 
many showy persons, it did not have much real 
merit. This Colonel Massie knew, for he was an 
excellent judge of horses. He accordingly made 
a bet with his lieutenant-colonel that his colt 
could beat the showy horse. 

All the arrangements were made for the race, 
and the entire camp was in high glee for the sport. 
The betting ran high and the odds were in favor 
of the horse, as the colt presented an ugly appear- 
ance. When the race was planned the men gath- 
ered on a bluff along the side of the race course 
and had a splendid view of the track from start 
to finish. The colt was brought out and was 
ridden by a boy of 1 9, — a son of the Colonel, — 
who rode bareback and used his hat as a whip. 
The horse, ridden by a man in the regiment, 
had on his handsome trappings and was very 
showy and spirited. The colt, to the contrary, 
was as meek as Moses, and few believed that 
it had any go or merit. When the order was 



256 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

given for the start the two horses flew up the 
track amidst the shoutings and cries of the men, 
keen with excitement and intent on the finale. 
The boy on the colt soon took the lead and when 
the two entries passed the judges' stand he was 
some lengths ahead. The horse seemed winded, 
but the colt paid no attention to the honors it had 
won and walked around as quietly as though noth- 
ing had been done. The excitement was wild ; the 
men threw up their hats, yelled, and made the 
woods and fields echo with their shouts. As the 
betting had been largely on the horse the winner 
gave good returns, and money changed hands very 
freely. 

This was the first horse race I ever saw, and it 
was worth more than all I have seen since because 
of picturesque and unique surroundings. These 
soldiers entered into the spirit of the occasion and 
forgot for the time the hardships and cares of 
war. 

A few weeks later the command moved away 
and made an excursion into western Virginia as 
far as the town of Keyser, on the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, where they captured and destroyed 
much property. One of the boys in the command, 
who had been my schoolmate in the early spring 
and who was a witness of the horse race I have 
described, was killed in a charge upon a garrison 
posted in Greenland Gap. He was a gallant 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1863 257 

young man, not over 18 years of age, and had 
seen service in the army less than halt a year. 

I recall a most exciting chase of two Confeder- 
ate cavalrymen by a company of Federal cavalry 
that I witnessed in the fall of 1863, and which 
to the looker-on, at least, was real sport. 

I was playing in the front yard of my home and 
saw two Confederate soldiers riding along the 
road in the direction of Winchester. Each man 
was leading a horse, which was probably being 
taken home to be turned out for a winter's rest. 
When these men had reached the brow of a hill, 
where the pike leads down to the river, they ran 
up against a company of Federal cavalry coming 
in the opposite direction. As soon as they saw 
the Federals, — who were not over one hundred 
yards in front of them, — they wheeled their horses 
and took to their heels; but not before they had 
been seen by the Federals. The two Confederates 
ran back as fast as they could go,— letting the 
led horses loose to follow. — the Federal cav- 
alry in hot pursuit; but, having fast-running 
horses, they gained in distance on their pursuers, 
so that when they were opposite my home they 
were some three hundred yards in the lead. Op- 
posite my home was a large field, then in the com- 
mons. When this field was reached the two led 
horses left the road and, with heads and tails up, 
ran out in the field and made a circle around in 



258 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

front of their pursuers. The horses suddenly 
turned their heads in the direction of the men fol- 
lowing and with loud snorts seemed to bid defi- 
ance to their followers. They waited for a 
moment until the Federals were within a hundred 
yards of them when they suddenly wheeled around 
and made up the road after the two cavalrymen 
as fast as they could run. The Federals fired 
their pistols at the horses and pressed on after 
them; but the animals made a safe escape and 
soon joined the two Confederates. When the 
pursuers saw that they could not overtake the 
two men and their horses they gave up the chase. 
The attitude of defiance which these two horses 
put up amused me greatly, for they seemed to 
know instinctively that they were being followed, 
and they entered into the sport of the chase with 
as great a show of high spirits as young colts in 
the pasture. The two Confederates probably did 
not enjoy the chase half so much, as they were 
bent on getting away from their pursuers. 

That reminds me of a similar case that I wit- 
nessed about a year later, — the chase being by a 
squad of Federal cavalrymen in pursuit of one 
Confederate. On this occasion the soldier was 
a one-armed Confederate named Clarence Broadus, 
whom some of our people knew well. Clarence 
was a native of Page County, and had lost an 
arm in battle. He was afterwards appointed a 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1863 259 

conscript officer in the service of the Government 
and was very active in running down men who 
were eligible to military duty. He was an ener- 
getic and daring fellow and had made some narrow 
escapes in hunting men who were dodging service 
and who hid in the mountains away from the 
sight of men. Clarence used to go after these 
characters and was several times fired upon from 
ambush by some of them, but he usually landed 
the man he was after and was much feared by 
the shirkers of military service. He made fre- 
quent visits to our village and on one occasion 
came very near being captured by the Federals. 
One day, as he was sitting on his horse in the main 
street of the village, a company of Federal cavalry 
made its entrance at the north end of the street, 
coming from the direction of Winchester. Clar- 
ence sat quietly on his horse until the Federals 
were within one hundred yards of him, when he 
pulled off his hat and beckoned to them to come 
on and capture him, firing off his pistol, putting 
spurs to his horse that ran as fast as it could 
go. The Federals followed him in hot pursuit; 
but he soon outdistanced them, and as he ran he 
would turn in his saddle and fire his pistol at 
them, calling to them to come on. With the 
stump of the amputated arm he guided his horse, 
while he used the pistol with the other hand. The 
horse he rode was a handsome dun and very fleet. 



26o THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

It had been trained to obey his command, and was 
easily guided or checked by his handless arm. 

Clarence was a man that took all kinds of risks 
and it was a surprise that he got through the war 
with his life. I do not know what became of him 
after the war. 

While on the subject of conscript duty carried 
on by the Government during the last year of the 
war, it may not be uninteresting to the present-day 
reader to know what strenuous efforts were made 
to secure recruits for the army. Every white male 
in good physical health, between the ages of l6 
and 60 years, was subject to military duty during 
the last years of the war; and few men escaped 
the service. My own county had been raked, and 
I know of but two men who were able to dodge 
the service, one of whom had managed to keep 
out of the army until the fall of 1864, when he 
was forced to enter the service. He bought a 
horse and had himself equipped with uniform and 
high-top cavalry boots, which he wore around like 
a knight on parade. He was always pretending 
that he was going to the front but in some way 
he managed to stay around his home and never 
was enrolled in any company. The war closed 
in time to save him from arrest. 

The other man had enlisted in one of the in- 
fantry companies at the beginning of the war, but 
he soon deserted and hid in the mountains near his 



FALL AND WINTER OF 1863 261 

old home until he was at length caught, tried for 
desertion, and sentenced to be shot. His father 
was a very reputable citizen, and through the in- 
fluence of friends he succeeded in getting the sen- 
tence of death removed, upon condition that his 
son should do other work for the Government. 
The man was made useful at a post removed from 
danger; for he was simply one of the class of con- 
stitutional cowards. A case of constitutional 
cowardice, with which I came in contact as a boy, 
was that of a man in the army that had a fear 
of bullets which he could not overcome. When- 
ever he went into an engagement he invariably ran, 
and no threats of his officers could overcome that 
fear. He admitted that he could not help run- 
ning and begged to be transferred to some branch 
of service in which he would not be exposed to 
danger. He was a correct man in every respect, 
and in camp or on the march always did his duty, 
while his comrades respected him and sympathized 
with him, for he did not profess to be courageous, 
as some cowards do. This man was forced by 
his captain to go into a fight, and under the in- 
fluence of the fear that overcame him, he went 
to the Federals, became a deserter, and remained 
in the North as a non-combatant until the close 
of the war. 

I always had a deep sympathy for this fellow 
and have always thought that the captain of his 



262 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

company made a great mistake in not having him 
assigned to the hospital corps where he would have 
been of far greater service to his country than in 
the ranks. Courage, both physical and moral, is 
a gift that all men do not possess in the same de- 
gree. The man who has it is not necessarily better 
than the man who has to struggle to overcome his 
weakness of temperament. Some of the best men 
I have known, — men who were soldiers in the 
army, — have told me that nothing but pride and 
a high sense of duty had held them steadfast under 
the great dangers of battle. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

rosser's ride around Meade's army 

On December the i6th, 1863, General Rosser, in 
command of the Laurel Brigade, made a raid 
around the army of General Meade, — a raid that 
created much interest and excitement, and one that 
presented a remarkable illustration of the daring 
and endurance of the Confederate cavalry. 

Leaving Fredericksburg with his command of 
three regiments and the battalion of White, Rosser 
forded the Rappahannock and moved by rapid 
marches around the army of Meade, encamped 
along the north bank of the river in the neighbor- 
hood of the old encampment of Burnside. By a 
circuitous route Rosser pushed forward in the di- 
rection of the Blue Ridge Mountains, traveling 
over muddy and frozen roads, crossing dangerous 
streams, and contesting every mile with the forces 
of the enemy that were either opposing or follow- 
ing his march. For three days his men were kept 
constantly in the saddle, suffering for food and 
sleep and from the severity of the weather. It 
was not until they reached Upperville that they 
were able to go into camp for a night's rest; and 
when they did get there some of the men were 

263 



264 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

so frozen that they had to be lifted from their 
saddles, and their horses were jaded and half 
starved. After resting overnight Rosser crossed 
the mountains at Ashby's Gap and then followed 
the banks of the Shenandoah River until he 
reached Front Royal, at dusk in the evening of 
December 19. 

Within 72 hours Rosser had traveled from 
Fredericksburg to our village, covering a distance 
of over one hundred miles and only resting in 
camp one night. The weather was rainy and 
cold, and both men and horses suffered severely. 
When our village was reached General Rosser and 
his staif spent the night in my home, and I am 
able from this fact to recall the facts connected 
with the raid. I have never seen men so worn 
out and dilapidated in appearance. After a 
hearty supper they went to their rooms and slept 
like dead men. The next morning when Rosser 
and his staff appeared at the breakfast table they 
were much refreshed by sleep and gave an account 
of the experience of the past four days in the 
saddle. 

I remember General Rosser as he looked at that 
time. He was a man of large stature and striking 
appearance, — muscular, well built, and athletic. 
He was then not over 26 years of age. He had 
graduated at West Point in April, 1861, and im- 
mediately after graduation resigned from the Fed- 



ROSSER'S RIDE 265 

cral army and went South to join the Confederate 
forces. He was made a lieutenant of artillery, 
but was soon transferred to the cavalry and made 
colonel of the Fifth Virginia Cavalry. His dash 
and daring soon brought him into notice and he 
was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and 
given the command of the old Ashby Brigade, now 
called the Laurel Brigade. As the commander 
of this brigade he made a distinguished record in 
the last years of the war. The raid which is here 
referred to, and that added largely to his fame, 
was made soon after he took command of the 
brigade. After resting overnight in our village 
the command moved south to Luray and later 
went into camp in the upper N'^alley where forage 
was provided for the horses. 

My recollections of this expedition made by 
Rosser are made most impressive by one circum- 
stance which had a peculiar interest to a boy of my 
age. The morning following the stay of Rosser 
in my home one of the couriers on the staff, named 
Will Aisquith, was compelled to leave with us 
the horse he had ridden, for the reason that when 
he had taken the animal out of the stable after 
a night's rest the poor beast was so stiff that it 
could scarcely move. I have never seen a more 
emaciated and miserable-looking horse than this 
one, and as Will Aisquith had no idea that the 
animal would live he gave her to me. I took 



266 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

charge of her, fed her, and looked after her com- 
fort until she was able to move about. After a 
few weeks she began to improve in strength and 
I was able to ride her. During the rest of the 
winter she became my constant companion and 
the amount of pleasure I got out of her would 
be difficult to tell. To a boy of my age she was 
invaluable at that time, for good horses were not 
then to be had and we were glad to use any old 
plugs left by the armies. 

When the spring came I took this mare to the 
mountains where good pasturage was to be had, 
where she was not exposed to capture by the Fed- 
erals, and where I could make occasional visits to 
see her. Before the early summer came she had 
got as fat as a seal, and had so improved in ap- 
pearance that no one would have recognized her 
unless well acquainted with her in her more pros- 
perous days. Some time during the summer Will 
Aisquith came to our village and, recalling the old 
mare he had left with me to die, came to my home 
to inquire about her. When I told him of her 
present condition and that he could have her if he 
wanted her, he was so happy at the idea, that 
I went at once with him to the mountain, some 
four miles distant, and after chasing the mare for 
some time we caught her, and Aisquith went away 
rejoicing. I never heard of the mare after she 
was again put in the service of the cavalry. She 



ROSSER'S RIDE 267 

probably soon went the way of all horse flesh. 
She came into my life at a time to add to its en- 
joyment and robustness and, like other old war 
horses I owned as a boy, passed out of my hands 
to reenter service and to die in the cause of war. 

In the history of human warfare, where this 
noble beast braves all the dangers of battle and 
bears all the hardship of military service with 
unselfish loyalty, it will be found that the horse 
responds more promptly to the calls of duty and 
service than any living creature. The old war 
horse has, therefore, a peculiar interest to me and 
I love to recall his heroic services and to pay re- 
spect to his deeds. 

In the War between the States the cavalry 
service in my section was both conspicuous and 
brilliant. Our people are a horse-loving people; 
and from the very earliest years of childhood our 
boys and girls are taught to ride, and there are few 
youths who do not excel in horsemanship, so that 
when the war came many of our best young men 
entered the cavalry. Out of five companies that 
went from my county into the Confederate army 
three were cavalry and a number were members of 
Mosby's independent command. These men were 
all first-class riders and were mounted on the best 
of horses. Three of these cavalry companies were 
in the Laurel Brigade; and it is probable that no 
brigade of cavalry in either army measured up to 



268 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the standard of the Laurel Brigade in all that 
makes the efficient cavalryman. 

No Arab of the desert was ever more devoted 
to his steed than the Virgina cavalryman was to 
his horse. The flower and chivalry of the Valley 
and Piedmont counties were enlisted in cavalry 
service, each man owning his own horse, and each 
horse being filled with the pride and spirit of his 
rider. No braver and bolder riders followed 
Spotswood and the Knights of the Golden Horse- 
shoe than followed Ashby and Rosser in the Valley 
campaigns. No better mounts were ever known 
in war than the horses ridden by these men. 

Both before and during the war the Valley 
horse was famous for his speed, endurance, and 
spirited life. These animals gave such an advan- 
tage to the cavalry service that the success of 
Stonewall Jackson in his Valley campaign was 
largely attributed to the cavalry of his command. 
After Ashby and Jackson passed away the reputa- 
tion of the cavalry was kept up by Rosser and the 
old Laurel Brigade. These men held out until the 
war closed and many of them brought their old 
horses home to work in the wagon and in the plow. 

A relative of mine owned one of these old cav- 
alry horses after the war, — a horse that he had 
purchased at a sale by the Government of army 
horses, at Winchester. This old horse had been 
in many a cavalry charge and still had all the fire 



ROSSER'S RIDE 269 

of war in his heart, though he had been degraded 
to the service of the wagon and of the plow and 
to the quiet life of the farm. It was one of my 
greatest pleasures to ride this old animal; for with 
the slightest encouragement he would take the bit 
in his mouth and run as fast as his legs would 
carry him. With all my strength I was unable 
to hold him in until I could bring him to a long 
hill and wind him. When a cheer was made or 
another horse attempted to pass him he imagined 
he was in a charge, and away he would go until 
almost completely exhausted. I greatl)^ admired 
and loved this old fellow. He gave me many 
happy hours. 

Our county, so famous before the war for its 
high-bred horses, still retains this distinction, 
which has within the last two years been recog- 
nized by the Government by the establishment of 
a Remount Mount Station that promises to become 
one of the most important horse-breeding estab- 
lishments in this country. The landscape, climate 
and grass of my old county are especially adapted 
to the growth and raising of the highest class of 
cavalry horses, and here the United States Gov- 
ernment has purchased a large body of land and is 
now extensively engaged in raising horses for 
army service. 

But — to return to my story — during the winter 
months our school was conducted without inter- 



270 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

ruption. We boys and girls had a most pleasant 
time at school, and after school hours our home 
life was filled with profitable duties. We had 
to do much of the work around our homes and on 
the farm, and when not engaged in these duties 
we had many opportunities for hunting and for 
the sports of the season, such as skating and coast- 
ing, horseback riding, and sleighing; for we had a 
few old army horses, somewhat broken down in 
service but still retaining the spirit of previous 
army service. These horses had been trained in 
the cavalry, and, because of the practice of service 
in the charge and the excitement of battle they 
were fiery and mettlesome, and would run and 
jump, with all the spirit of younger animals. 
There was the greatest abundance of wild game, 
such as rabbits, partridges, wild turkeys and 
pheasants. We boys would set snares for the rab- 
bits and with our old army muskets, loaded with 
slugs, would hunt in the fields and woods for the 
larger game. In this way we had most pleasant 
experiences, and we seldom failed to bring home 
the fruits of our hunting excursions. I became 
quite an expert shot with the musket and pistol, 
and practiced the use of these arms by shooting 
from the back of the horse which had been trained 
to stand under fire. A number of the boys had 
these old army horses and we had amusing ex- 
periences with them, the most exciting of which 



ROSSER'S RIDE 271 

was running to the mountains when the report 
came that the Federals were going to raid the vil- 
lage. It was only in this way we could keep pos- 
session of our horses. There was usuall)^ some 
announcement given of the coming of these raiding 
parties, — often false alarms, — but we would 
mount our old horses and run to the mountains 
and refugee for one or more days until all fear 
of the enemy had quieted down. The Blue Ridge 
Mountains and their foothills were close to our 
village, and into these mountains the enemy 
seldom went. Much of this mountain land was 
in grass, and during the war a great deal of it was 
kept under cultivation, corn, wheat, rye and oats 
being raised. But for this circumstance we would 
have suffered much more for necessary food. All 
the farm lands in the valley and along the roads 
were without fencing and what crops the farmers 
could grow were taken or destroyed by the armies 
that passed through. 

During the winter of 1863 our farmers were 
able to gather the crops they raised, and we did 
not suffer greatly for food supplies. The great- 
est difficulty we had was in getting labor to cul- 
tivate the land and gather the grain. We still 
had a number of faithful negroes and they, with 
the aid of the old men and boys, did the work of 
the farm, while our women and girls did the work 
of the home. To tell the truth, we boys and girls 



272 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

enjoyed doing the work, for there was an excite- 
ment and interest in it that more than compen- 
sated for the driidger}' of labor. We were being 
taught lessons of self-sacrifice and of hardship that 
were valuable in building up our characters 
and habits. While we children were growing up 
under these severe conditions of life, our older 
people were even greater sufferers by the acts 
of war. Their property, the fruits of early in- 
dustr}', was being swept away; their nearest of 
kin were in the army, exposed to the casualties 
of war, and almost every family was in mourn- 
ing for the death of some near relative who had 
lost his life in service, and as the war progressed 
it became more and more apparent to our older 
citizens that the results of the conflict were be- 
coming more and more uncertain. 

Christmas Day, 1863, I shall always remember. 
The boys at home on furlough decided to give 
our people an illustration of a sham battle. All 
who had horses entered into the engagement. The 
men were divided, and one party was to be that 
of attack, and the other party on the defense. 
The pistols were loaded with blank cartridges, and 
everything was done to make the iight as realistic 
as possible. 

One party took a position at the north end of 
the village. The attacking party made an as- 
sault on this position and when it was repulsed 



ROSSER'S RIDE 273 

it was driven through the main street as fast as 
the horses could carry them, both sides firing their 
pistols and going through the fight as if it were 
an actual battle. There was an advance and then 
a retreat, charge and countercharge, until one 
party completely routed the other. When these 
men had finished with their sham battle they pre- 
sented an appearance that I am scarcely able to 
describe. There had been a slight snow on the 
ground and the streets were full of slush and 
mud. As the horses ran over the streets they 
threw the snow and mud in the faces of each 
other and all were literally covered with mud. 
Both horses and men were in the dirtiest condi- 
tion possible and presented a most horrible plight. 
If this is war, I thought, may Heaven spare me 
such an experience! Yet this was actual war 
without its carnage. As no one was hurt and the 
mud could be removed, no serious harm came of 
it. 

I remember that I hung up my stocking on 
Christmas Eve and when I opened it the following 
morning I found in it some cakes, apples, walnuts, 
and doughnuts, but no candy, toys, and the things 
that boys usually get in times of peace from Santa 
Claus. I thought the old man must have put me 
on a war diet. But I was just as happy, for my 
wants were simple in those days. 

We saw no candy during the last two years of 



274 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the war and had no toys, but I had a pair of old 
skates and several old muskets and pistols that 
gave me all the amusement I wanted. I made 
my own wagons and sleighs and coasted the hills 
on a plank, which is just as good as the best sled; 
and he who thinks that the simple life is not 
worth living, let him live as I spent my bo3^hood 
days during the war, and he will learn what 
pleasure the simple things of life can give. For 
if I did not have fun and sport, I do not know 
what such things are. If I did not have the re- 
finements, as we know them now, I had a train- 
ing in manly and strenuous ways that give a boy 
an endurance which the hardships of the times 
could not break down. I grew very fast in stature 
and took so much physical exercise that I was very 
strong for one of my age and enjoyed the robust 
health which has carried me through life with no 
loss of time from sickness since I was a boy 13 
years of age. I was not the exception, for some 
of my boyhood companions still live in excellent 
health. It is not my wish to make this story too 
personal, but I hope that it may some day fall into 
the hands of some of the boys of the present gen- 
eration and that it will give them some idea of 
the benefit of experiences that should come into 
the life of a boy. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 

In the spring of 1864 the two armies, — one under 
Grant and the other under Lee, — were facing 
each other on the banks of the Rappahannock. 
General Grant had been placed in command of 
the Army of the Potomac with a force of 150,000 
men. He had won success in the West and was 
now looked upon as the Moses who would lead 
the Federal army to final victory, having strength 
in numbers and every equipment to walk over the 
depleted ranks of Lee. But he soon found that 
he had an adversary to deal with that would try 
his mettle. Opposing this large force General 
Lee had an army of less than 70,000 men, — 
poorly clad and badly fed, but seasoned veterans, 
who still had the spirit of do and die. They were 
the remnants of the old guard and the last re- 
sources the Confederacy had to depend on to pro- 
tect Richmond. 

The capital was still the objective point of at- 
tack and defense. The order from the head of 
each government was, "Hold Richmond," or 
"Take Richmond,"— "or die." Nothing would 
satisfy the sentiment at the North but the capture 

275 



276 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

of the capital of the Confederacy, and nothing was 
considered so important to the South as to hold on 
to its capital. Thousands of lives were sacrificed 
for this purpose. It has been stated somewhere 
that General Grant told Mr. Lincoln that it would 
require 150,000 lives to take Richmond and that 
the President replied that he should have them. 
No matter how great the cost in blood, Richmond 
must be taken. 

Early in May General Grant crossed the Rap- 
pahannock and began his campaign of advance. 
He soon found Lee in his front, and he also found 
that he had a stubborn opponent to contend with. 

The two armies first came together in the Wild- 
erness. The Wilderness was a dense forest of 
undergrowth, of pine, and of scrubby oak, al- 
most uninhabited by man, and covering a large 
area of land in Spottsylvania County. It was 
through this country that Grant made his ad- 
vance. When his men were well in the Wilder- 
ness they ran up against the forces under Lee, 
and the battle was fought. In this jungle the 
Federal troops became confused and mixed and 
the loss was very heavy, many of the wounded, 
who could not be removed, being burned to death 
by a fire that spread through the dense forest after 
the battle. 

Failing to break the Confederate ranks. Grant 
moved his army by its left flank and tried to turn 



MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 277 

the Confederate right. At every point he was 
met and held in check by Lee, — each army mov- 
ing in parallel lines and facing each other, the 
Confederates remaining on the defensive, the 
Federals making the assault. From the Rappa- 
hannock to the James this attack and defense was 
kept up; and when Grant reached the James he 
had lost more men than Lee had in his entire 
army. 

At the second battle of Cold Harbor Grant 
poured his columns against the lines of Lee in 
such masses that it has been claimed that some 
twenty thousand men were left dead and wounded 
on the field. Cold Harbor was one of the bloodi- 
est battles of the war. Lee held his unbroken 
lines and repulsed the enemy at every point. 

The Confederate losses were heavy in view of 
the fact that they could not be replaced, while 
Grant was able to fill his ranks with men as fast 
as they were cut down. Grant understood that 
every man he killed in the Confederate ranks was 
depleting the army to that extent and that the 
only way to win out was by a gradual destruction 
of Lee's army. When the lines of defense were 
extended to the front of Petersburg the Confed- 
erate forces had been greatly reduced and it was 
only a question of time when these forces would 
be exhausted. 

\^^ile Grant and Lee were fighting in eastern 



278 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Virginia our section was comparatively quiet. In 
the spring a Federal force advanced as far up the 
Valley as New Market and the battle there tem- 
porarily arrested its progress; but later a force 
under Hunter pushed on to Staunton and Lexing- 
ton and reached Salem where it was met and 
driven back through southwestern Virginia. 

Hunter destroyed everything in his path and 
left sections of the V^alley along his route as bare 
as a desert. He burned the barracks of the Vir- 
ginia Military Institute at Lexington, in retalia- 
tion for the service the corps of cadets had ren- 
dered in the battle of New Market. 

During— the early summer a command under 
General Early came to the Valley and began 
operations in the counties of Warren, Clarke, 
Frederick, and Jefferson. Early crossed the Poto- 
mac and invaded Maryland, carrying his opera- 
tions as far east as the suburbs of Washington, 
where he found the enemy so entrenched behind 
fortifications that he had to retire his forces to 
the south bank of the Potomac. 

On the 9th of August a brisk engagement took 
place two miles north of our village between a 
large body of Federal cavalry and a force of in- 
fantry commanded by General Anderson. The 
Confederates held their position, and later they 
advanced as far north as Winchester. Early 
held Winchester until the latter part of Septem- 



xMILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 279 

ber, when a large Federal force made an attack on 
his command, and the battle of Winchester was 
fought. Early was forced to withdraw to the 
neighborhood of Strasburg and Woodstock. A 
large force of cavalr)' under Generals Torbert and 
Custer drove back a brigade of Confederate cav- 
alr}', commanded by General Wickham, which 
had taken positions at the fords of the Shenan- 
doah River in my county. Wickham was greatly 
outnumbered and was forced to retreat to a posi- 
tion higher up in the Page Valley, to a place 
known as Millford. 

It was before daybreak on the morning of 
September 21st that we were aroused by a heavy 
firing at the river about two miles from my home. 
My father jumped out of bed and, judging by 
the firing that the Confederates were being driven 
back, hastily determined to leave home and 
refugee, as it was currently reported that the Fed- 
erals were arresting and sending to prison the old 
men and the boys that lived within the Confeder- 
ate lines. In fact, they had already done so in 
the northern section of our county. 

We had had no Federal troops in our village 
for months and we looked upon their return with 
great apprehension and alarm, for we knew that 
the Federal army was destroying property and 
robbing our people wherever it went. My father 
thought it best for me to go with him. I 



28o THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

had grown very fast during the year, and though 
only 15 years old, I was large for my age. We 
hastily dressed, and taking some extra clothing 
with us, started for the nearest mountain, leaving 
my mother and the family to the care of our old 
negroes. When we left the house the whole earth 
was covered with a dense fog, through which we 
cculd not see ten feet from us. We walked very 
fast, and when we reached a farmhouse about half- 
way up the mountain the fog had lifted, and we 
could see the valley below filled with Federal 
cavalry running over the fields and marching along 
the roads. We tarried at the house only long 
enough to get a bite of food, — for we found the 
family at breakfast, — then we hurried on; and 
when we had reached a high plateau we saw a 
squad of Federal cavalry climbing the mountain 
after us, less than a half-mile distant. We ran 
across several citizens, who were refugeeing with 
us, and several Confederate cavalrymen, who were 
making for the mountains. These men fired at 
the Federals and they came no nearer to us. We 
went a mile beyond, to the highest point of the 
mountain, where we had a wide view of the en- 
tire country about and where we felt safe. Tak- 
ing a position under the shade of a large walnut 
tree, — that stood in an open field on the side of 
the ridge and gave us a beautiful outlook, — we 
saw the Confederate cavalry drawn up in line of 



MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 281 

battle on a high hill some two miles below us, 
while the Federal cavalry had come up and was 
on a hill one mile distant. Federal pickets had 
been thrown out and were riding here and there 
through the fields. After the Confederates had 
taken a strong position on the hill the Federals 
were for a time undecided what to do. 

About noon a regiment formed in the road and 
made a charge on the Confederate pickets and 
drove them in, but when they came to the reserve 
force on the hill they were driven back in the 
greatest disorder, only to rally and make a second 
attempt, with the same result. They then with- 
drew and remained quiet until late in the after- 
noon. We could see these movements very 
distinctly, and it was a very spectacular affair to 
look down on men riding, charging, and firing 
their carbines and pistols. I remember how we 
could see the smoke from the gun long before the 
report reached us. The crowd under the walnut 
tree had grown while we were resting under its 
shade. All but two were citizens ; these two were 
cavalrymen, who had joined us. 

While we were looking on and watching the 
different movements of the men far below us an 
amusing incident happened, — an incident that for 
a few moments gave us a great fright. One of 
our companions was a gentleman who lived on the 
mountain near by. He was mounted and had a 



282 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

large field glass. In order to get a better view 
he climbed up into the top of the walnut tree, 
where he was intently engaged in taking observa- 
tions, while his horse was browsing on the grass 
in the field. The two cavalrymen who were 
with us rode across the top of the ridge out of 
sight, and as they were riding through the field, a 
fox ran out from under the bushes in front of 
them. Without thinking of any result, they drew 
their pistols and fired some half-dozen times in 
rapid succession. Some one in the crowd cried 
out, "The Yankees are coming," and at once the 
crowd broke, and we ran for the woods as fast as 
we could go. My father and I ran down the 
mountain-side a hundred yards until we had 
reached the woods, when we stopped to look 
around, and seeing no soldiers in sight began to 
retrace our steps back to the tree. Some one had 
run across the ridge and discovered the cause of 
the pistol firing. 

The gentleman in the tree had climbed down as 
fast as a boy could do, and hastily catching his 
horse, had mounted and started to ride away. 
When he discovered that the firing was done by 
the two cavalrymen at a fox he was very indig- 
nant and pronounced it a most imprudent act, as 
it directed the attention of the Federals to our 
position. As the Federal troops were over a mile 
distant, at the foot of the mountain, there was not 



MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 283 

much danger from them; but he had concluded 
that a body of cavalry had followed us up the 
mountain and had discovered our hiding place. 
When we found it all a false alarm we laughed 
over the panic it had made and considered it a 
good joke on us. The gentleman who had nearly 
broken his neck getting down from the top of the 
tree could not see the joke as it was too practical 
an affair from his point of view. I have often 
laughed over the incident, for it was a very 
humorous performance. My father often during 
his lifetime referred to the experience and it 
amused him very much when he recalled how he 
had run down the mountain all the time calling 
to me to take care of myself and not get caught. 

After the affair had quieted down we all again 
took our seats under the walnut tree and watched 
the movements in the valley below. About dusk 
the Federals ran up a battery of artillery on a 
high hill and began to fire at the position of the 
Confederates on a hill, over a mile distant, where- 
upon the Confederates brought out their artillery 
and returned the fire. For over an hour an ar- 
tillery duel was kept up and from the position 
where we were located we could easily see the 
discharge of the guns, could trace the course of the 
shells, and then hear the report from the guns and 
from the explosion of the shells. The duel con- 
tinued until after dark, and the passage of the 



284 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

shells through the air could be followed by the 
streaks of lire that were thrown off. The effect 
was exciting and unusual and could not have been 
excelled, if we had had the privilege of ordering 
such an exhibition. We were so far above the 
valley that every discharge could be seen, and 
every report could be heard long after the flash 
from the cannon's mouth was noticed. 

After the artillery duel had ceased we went 
to a near-by farmhouse and got our suppers. As 
I had had nothing to eat since early in the morn- 
ing, except some apples from an old tree on the 
mountain, I was as hungry as a wolf. My father, 
the gentleman who had climbed the walnut tree, 
and I then went back to the top of the mountain 
and slept all night in a small house, — occupied 
by a family, — that had only two bedrooms. We 
threw ourselves across a bed, with our clothes on, 
and slept soundly until daylight, when we again 
returned to the walnut tree to see what was going 
on in the valley below. 

The Confederates had fallen back during the 
night, and the Federal cavalry had broken camp, 
so that all we could see was a dense cloud of dust 
in the road; this cloud was made by the army, 
which at this early hour was marching in pursuit 
of the retreating Confederates. The Confed- 
erates took a strong position at a place six miles 
south, where they were able to protect their flanks. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 285 

and held this position until the Federals returned 
North a week later. 

We returned home that afternoon after my only 
experience as a refugee. On the following Sun- 
day morning a note was sent to my father from 
an old gentleman, who lived on a farm about one 
mile from my home. The note had been written 
to this gentleman by an officer in the command 
that we had seen from the mountain, General 
Wickham. The note stated that in the fight at 
the river a few days before a private and a cap- 
tain of the Second Virginia Cavalry had been 
killed, that the bodies had been dropped in a 
strip of woods on his place, and that they had 
been so closely pressed that they were unable to 
bury them. It requested him to have these bodies 
properly interred. 

When my father learned the facts he had Uncle 
Lewis, Billy, and several negroes on the place 
make two neat pine coffins, which we took on 
wheelbarrows to the place where the men had been 
dropped. 

In a strip of small pines by the side of a road, 
which had been made by the army, we found 
the grave of these two Confederates. W^hen the 
Federals came along this road, following the re- 
treat of the Confederates, they had found these 
bodies and buried them in shallow graves, without 
coffins. A fence rail had been smoothed at one 



286 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

end and on this was written, "Confederate cap- 
tain and private killed September 2 1st. Names 
unknown." 

The fence rail had been broken in half and one 
end had been driven in the ground at the head of 
the grave. The negroes opened the grave and re- 
moved the two bodies, which had been so drained 
of blood by the wounds they had received 
that they showed no signs of decomposition. 
The dead men were then washed and cleaned as 
much as was possible, and each body was placed 
in a cofRn. The grave was enlarged and deep- 
ened and the men were then covered with earth 
in this quiet place by the good negroes who then 
built a rail fence around the graves. 

I remember the looks of these dead men per- 
fectly well. The captain was named J. Lasley. 
He was about 30 years of age, small in stature, 
with raven black hair and beard. A bullet had 
entered his forehead but had not made its exit. 
He must have died immediately. The private 
was named Hugh Garth, — a boy not over 19 
years old. He had a very fair complexion, 
auburn hair, and was heavily built. He had been 
shot through the heart. We marked their graves 
as carefully as we could and for several years I 
kept watch over the place where they lay. In the 
fall of 1867, when a new cemetery was opened 
for the Confederate dead who had been buried in 



MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864 287 

our county, I helped to remove the bones of these 
two men to the spot where they now sleep with 
their comrades who perished in the same cause 
to which they gave their lives. I never visit the 
cemetery without going to see these graves and 
those of others, whom I so well remember, who 
died during the war. 



CHAPTER XXV 

MOSBY AND HIS MEN 

The Federal cavalry and the Confederate had 
faced each other for some days at Millford, 12 
miles south of our village. At length it became 
necessary for the Federals to send a large wagon 
train back to Winchester to get food for the horses 
and men. The country in which they were 
operating was a very poor one and the army could 
gather no supplies from the territory. Colonel 
Mosby, — who commanded a battalion of cavalry 
that operated as an independent command, — had 
learned of this situation and had arranged to 
attack this wagon train on its return north. 

Mosby had about three hundred men in his 
battalion, which were divided into three or four 
companies that operated as a whole or a part, as 
circumstances required. This command had no 
given place for an encampment, but the men dis- 
banded and stayed at different places in the moun- 
tains or safe retreats, and only assembled when 
called together for a raid. They operated in the 
northern counties of Virginia and by their activity 
kept a large body of Federal troops watching their 
lines of communication and guarding their stores. 

288 



MOSBY AND HIS MEN 289 

It has been claimed that Mosby with his three 
hundred men kept as many as 20,000 Federal 
troops on the lookout. He would pounce down 
on them at any unexpected time and destroy the 
railroads or capture supplies at unguarded points. 
Mosby and his men were a terror to the Federal 
troops and they called him a bandit and a guerilla, 
although he had a regular commission in the Con- 
federate army and his men were regularly en- 
listed. These men were all well mounted on cap- 
tured horses and armed with captured weapons. 
They were a brave and daring band and made 
trouble at all times, rendering valuable service 
to our citizens by preventing small bodies of 
Federal cavalry from raiding and pillaging the 
people who lived away from the main lines of 
travel. The Federal army wagons had to be well 
guarded in traveling through the country, and 
Mosby often attacked these wagon trains and 
made valuable captures. 

He was here to-day and many miles away to- 
morrow, and though Federals set many traps for 
him, he usually escaped them and inflicted heavy 
damages in return. The operations of Mosby's 
command have gone down in history, and it is not 
necessary for me to repeat his many exploits. I 
wish to refer to only one incident that came under 
my personal observation, — an incident that illus- 
trates his methods of work. 



290 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The wagon train that General Custer had deter- 
mined to send back from Millford to Winchester 
was presumed to have a small body-guard, and it 
was this train that Mosby had arranged to attack 
in a narrow road some two miles south of our vil- 
lage. Mosby divided his command into two 
companies, with about 150 men in each company. 
It was arranged that one company would fall on 
the rear of the train when it passed a given point 
and that the other would make the attack in front 
when the train reached a certain place. Mosby 
expected to catch the wagon train in a narrow 
passage, walled in on one side by the river and 
on the other by a high bluff. In this gorge there 
was no way to spread, and the Federals would 
be held as in a vise. 

When the column of Federal cavalry with its 
wagons came down the road from Millford, and 
before it entered the gorge in the road, the com- 
mand, which Mosby had sent to make the attack 
on the rear of the train, discovered that the train 
was guarded by the entire Federal cavalry, which 
was in retreat from Millford. The officer in 
command of the men that were to attack the 
rear sent a courier to notify the commander of 
the men that were to attack in front to withdraw 
his forces, as the Federal army was too strong for 
an attack. In some way the courier failed to de- 
liver the message in time; and when the Federal 



MOSBY AND HIS MEN 291 

advance came in sight the order for the attack 
was given. 

The road going south in front of my home 
crosses a hill about three hundred yards away 
and then descends along a deep ravine to the 
river. The road is hemmed in by this ravine on 
the east side and by a high, wooded hill on the 
west side, so there is no room for expansion. 

In the early afternoon I was playing in our 
front yard when I saw a company of Confederate 
cavalry gallop across a field at right angles to the 
road, and I heard the officer in command give the 
order, "Wheel to the left. Charge!" As he 
gave the command the men in front turned into 
the road and charged over the hill. The}^ had 
scarcely disappeared from sight when the air was 
filled with the reports of firearms. 

I rushed back to the house to tell my mother 
what I had seen; but before I could enter the 
house I saw an ambulance coming down the road 
as fast as the horses could carry it. In a second 
I saw a horse running with the saddle turned and 
the saber striking the ground. The horse was 
trying to get out of the way of the saber. In 
less time than I can tell the story men were 
running in every direction and the whole earth 
seemed to be swarming with Federal cavalry. 
They came up like a flock of birds when a stone 
is cast into it. 



292 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

It was apparent at once what all this meant. 
Mosby's men had run into the wagon train, which 
was guarded by a large force of cavalry, and 
had fallen into such close quarters that the com- 
mand had run in every direction to escape cap- 
ture. It was stated afterward that the Federal 
commander had gotten information of this attack 
and had arranged to trap Mosby. He had placed 
the wagon train in the advance, with a very small 
guard, but had a large force following, which was 
to come to the relief of the train when the at- 
tack was made. The front wagon in the train 
was an ambulance, and in this ambulance was a 
sick officer. The men in the charge fired into 
the ambulance, — which was the one I saw com- 
ing down the road at such speed, — and unfor- 
tunately killed the officer. 

In the charge down the narrow road Mosby's 
men became wedged in between the wagons and 
the ravine on one side and embankment on the 
other, so that it was almost impossible for them 
to extricate themselves. They broke in disorder 
and every man had to look out for himself. 

One of Mosby's men had his horse killed in 
the beginning of the charge. Anderson, — that 
was his name, — ran back on foot, but was cap- 
tured before he could find a hiding place. Five 
more were captured at different places. 

As soon as the rout was over the Federals took 



MOSBY AND HIS MEN 293 

these prisoners and, without trial, had them shot. 
Two young men, Love and Jones, were shot in 
a lot back of a church in our village; Anderson 
was shot under a large elm-tree about a half-mile 
south of the village; a boy by the name of 
Rhodes was captured and brought through the 
village between two cavalrymen and taken a half- 
mile north and shot under a walnut tree. This 
boy had been a schoolmate of mine, and was only 
17 years of age. He had not been in the army, 
and that morning he borrowed an old horse from 
one of our citizens to join in this raid so that he 
might capture a horse to enable him to become 
a member of Mosby's command. The old horse 
broke down in the retreat, and Rhodes was taken 
prisoner. I doubt whether he fired a gun. As 
he was led through the village he passed the door 
of the house where lived his widowed mother and 
single sister; but he was not permitted to stop 
and say good-by to them. His dead body was 
left on the ground where he was shot, and was 
afterwards brought to his home by some of the 
citizens. 

Two men, Ogelvie and Carter, were taken a 
mile north and hung on a walnut tree. Rope 
being attached to a limb and the noose placed 
around their necks, they were made to stand up 
on their horses' backs, then the horses were 
removed from under them. They were left hang- 



294 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

ing to the tree all night, as our citizens were afraid 
to go near them and cut them down. On one 
ot the bodies a note was attached, saying, "Hung 
in retaliation for the death of a Federal major, 
killed in an ambulance this afternoon." 

The following morning, September 24th, sev- 
eral ot Mosby's men rode into the village and 
then went out to the place where their comrades 
were still hanging. They cut them down and 
brought their bodies into the village on their 
horses, a body being thrown across the saddle in 
front of each rider. The sight was the most 
ghastly incident our citizens had ever witnessed. 

The Federal cavalry did not go into camp that 
night at the village but hurried on to Winchester. 
They were greatly exasperated and it was for- 
tunate that they were hurried on. Our people 
were thrown into the deepest distress by this ex- 
perience, and it was made more so because of the 
sad death of young Rhodes who was known to 
everyone. He was an amiable, kind, and in- 
dustrious boy, and had been most helpful to his 
mother and sister. 

Such were the experiences of civil war. No 
one could foresee the results of this brutal strife 
that regarded human life and property as of no 
value and made the innocent as deserving of 
punishment as were the guilty. 

A few days later Mosby captured some 18 men 



MOSBY AND HIS MEN 295 

belonging to the command that had hung 
and shot his men. He took these innocent 
prisoners and had them shot in retaliation, giv- 
ing notice to General Custer that if he wished 
to conduct war on that basis, he was prepared 
to do the same. I think this put an end to the 
murder of prisoners by both sides. 

After this experience we were not exposed to 
the presence of the Federal troops until after 
the 19th of October. General Early, in com- 
mand of the \'alley army, was located in the 
neighborhood of Fisher's Hill and Strasburg on 
the main \'alley pike. The Federal army was 
around Cedar Creek and Middletown; the two 
armies were facing each other and looking for 
opportunities to get an advantage. 

The opportunity at last seemed to be favor- 
able to Early to make an attack. On the morn- 
ing of the 19th of October before daybreak he 
put his men in action and by a flank movement 
made an attack on the left of the Federal line 
at Cedar Creek. He took the Federals com- 
pletely by surprise and drove them out of their 
camps before they had time to form. The rout 
was complete; and they were driven back to Mid- 
dletown before the stampede was checked. 
Early's men had been starved and, for want of 
shoes and clothes, were in such poor condition that 
when they captured the Federal camp they began 



296 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

to pillage and look for food and clothes. Many 
left their commands and became stragglers at a 
time when their services were needed on the firing 
line. 

After driving the routed army back some six 
miles the men in the advance, who were doing all 
the lighting, were so reduced in numbers that they 
were unable to hold the position they had gained. 
The Federal stampede was arrested and frcBh 
men were brought up from Winchester to aid in 
the defense and inaugurate an advance on 
the scattered and depleted Confederate lines. 
Early's men were not only held in check, but 
they were driven back in as much disorder as 
they had advanced. They soon lost all the ad- 
vantages they had gained; and by evening the 
entire anny had been completely routed. A 
brilliant victory in the early morning was brought 
to a most humiliating disaster by the close of the 
day by the straggling and disorder of the Con- 
federates, who found too many temptations in the 
deserted camps of the enemy. 

I remember that early morning in October as 
well as any day of my life. We were aroused by 
the reports of the cannon and muskets on the Val- 
ley pike, not over ten miles distant in a bee line. 
We could follow the advance and then in the 
afternoon could locate by the firing the changes 
in position of the two armies. The noise of the 



MOSBY AND HIS MEN 297 

battle was terrific, and we knew that a great en- 
gagement was going on. It was Sunday morn- 
ing; the quiet of the Sabbath was disturbed not 
only by the noise of artillery and muskets, for my 
father had told Uncle Lewis that he had better 
get busy and try to save his corn crop on that day. 

Uncle Lewis had cultivated a small field of 
corn near the house, and up to that time it had 
not been disturbed. My father told him he had 
better gather it at once, for not an ear would 
be left if the Federals returned. While the bat- 
tle was going on in the \^alley, and while we 
could hear the firing as distinctly as though close 
by, we all turned out and went into the field and 
shucked and brought to the house in bags some 
18 to 20 barrels of corn. The work was largely 
done by the servants on the place, but I did a full 
share of the duty. We put the corn in the gar- 
ret of the house, and what we gathered that Sun- 
day was all the corn we had for man and beast 
the following winter. Early the next morning 
a large body of Federal cavalry came in and took 
possession of the place. They cleaned up what 
corn they could find in the field, but left the fod- 
der standing and did not take the time to gather 
the nubbins. 

The main body of cavalry pushed south by 
the Page Valley but met the Confederate cavalry 
at Millford, where it had been held back in 



298 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

September. Millford was a strong position, for 
the Valley was not over four miles wide at the 
place, and the river wound around between the 
mountains and lowlands in such curves that the 
place could not easily be flanked. A small force 
could easily defend the only road that led through 
the country. 

After this second attempt to advance south by 
way of the Page Valley the Federal cavalry again 
retired north, and in this retreat they swept our 
county of everything that they could find in the 
way of food supplies; and what they could not 
carry away they set on lire or destroyed in other 
ways. They burned all the flour and grist mills 
in our county, with two exceptions, along the 
route of travel, all the barns that were stored with 
grain, wheat stacks, hay stacks, and fodder. The 
skys were red at night with the glare from these 
burning buildings. General Sheridan, at that 
time in command of the Federal army operating 
in the Valley of Virginia, made the boasting re- 
mark, "A crow will have to carry its rations in 
flying over the Valley." And this would have 
been literally true, if Sheridan could have had his 
own way; but, fortunately for our citizens that 
were non-combatants, the bounty of nature is 
often more beneficent than man. 

Our country had never known such seasons as 
we had during the four years of war. Whatever 



MOSBY AND HIS MEN 299 

Wiis put in the ground grew in profusion. 
Wheat, corn, oats, rye, and grass yielded large 
crops, with little cultivation. The orchard bore 
heavily, small fruits and the nuts on the trees 
were in the greatest abundance; wild game was 
prolific and the poultry, hiding in weeds and 
briars around the houses, gave abundance of food 
that could not be removed or burned. Our peo- 
ple relied on these food supplies in the scarcity of 
flour and cornmeal. Potatoes, which were buried 
under ground, were used as substitutes for bread, 
and molasses made from sorghum was used for 
sugar. Coffee found a substitute in parched rye 
and the root of the sassafras was used to make 
tea. Salt was often scarce and hard to get, and 
clothing had to be of the plainest character. 
Many of our men and boys were clothed in the 
old discarded uniforms of Federals, — clothes that 
had either been left in camps or captured by our 
soldiers, — dyed black with the bark of the tree. 
But for these resources our people would have 
starved; and in some instances there was much 
suffering for the actual necessaries of life, where 
families were in the enemy's lines and had no 
one to extend aid to them. Leather was scarce 
and it was difficult to get shoes. Many of the 
boys and girls of good size went barefooted for 
nine months of the year. A good pair of shoes 
for man or woman was a luxury; yet in spite of 



300 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

all these drawbacks our men and women were tidy 
and neat in appearance, and our young girls never 
looked more beautiful than when dressed in their 
linsey garments and homemade hats. 

This was the last raid the Federal cavalry ever 
made in our village. They had cleaned up the 
country so thoroughly that it was hardly neces- 
sary to return; for they could not find enough food 
for the men and horses and perhaps deemed it un- 
wise to occupy a territory that was unproductive. 
Their operations were confined to the main Val- 
ley, and when the spring came, both the Confed- 
erate army and the Federal were transferred to 
the country east of the Blue Ridge, 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE SPRING OF 1865 THE SURRENDER 

The winter of 1864-65 was passed quietly by 
our people, for we were not disturbed by the visits 
of the Federal troops. They had treated us so 
badly during the fall months, and had so com- 
pletely devastated our country, that there was 
nothing left to tempt them to come our way. 
The condition of the Southern cause and the posi- 
tion of our armies, — now facing such odds and 
reduced to such small bodies, — filled us with great 
anxiety. The contest had almost worn out the 
patience of our most loyal citizens, who seemed 
to feel that the spring campaign would bring fur- 
ther disasters. The resources of our section of 
the South were so completely exhausted that we 
were scarcely able to support our home popula- 
tion, much less give aid to the men in the field. 
Every man available for military service was in 
the army and the crop of boys coming on for the 
spring enlistment was too small to be of any 
value. Our lands were out in the commons; 
barns, mills, and farming implements had been 
burned or destroyed; only a few old horses were 

left for farm work, and we had little labor with 

301 



302 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

which to cultivate the crops. Our farmers looked 
forward to the spring with little encouragement. 
If the war continued, little farm work could be 
done as the farm lands, labor, and implements 
necessary to cultivate the land were all in such 
a condition as to make farming operations im- 
practicable, except on the smallest scale. Small 
crops of wheat had been sown in the fall by a 
few farmers who lived off the main roads of 
travel ; and in the mountains it was possible to 
raise rye and corn. The lands had grown up in 
weeds and bushes, but the grass was in good con- 
dition; such live stock as was left could find good 
grazing all through the winter, and was kept alive 
by this fortunate condition. 

The privations and distress of our people can 
best be illustrated by a few examples. A lady 
in our village, — who had given birth to an in- 
fant about the time the Federals were harassing 
our citizens by all kinds of pillaging and destruc- 
tion, — was so disturbed that she was unable to 
give nourishment to her baby. She was com- 
pelled to give it milk from the only cow that was 
available. The Federal troops butchered this 
animal, though it had a calf only a few weeks 
old. This left the infant almost without nourish- 
ment, and it would have soon perished had not 
a 3^oung woman, the wife of a Confederate soldier, 
had an infant about the same age. She volun- 



THE SPRING OF 1865 303 

teered to nurse the baby in connection with her 
own infant, and it was necessay for the mother 
of the first infant to have it sent frequently 
through the picket lines to nurse, as the wet nurse 
lived some distance away and outside the lines. 
This had to be kept up until the Federals left and 
other arrangements could be made. The life of 
the infant was saved in this way. 
• A widow, whose only son was killed in the 
army, lived on a large farm at some distance from 
any neighbors. She had several grown daughters 
and one or two old female relatives living with 
her. Her farm had been stripped of everything 
that would give support to life. She had a num- 
ber of old negroes, both men and women, with 
their small children, all dependent on the farm; 
and they were all the protection these ladies had. 
These faithful negroes not only gave protection 
but they worked the garden, looked after the 
poultry, cows, and small animals on the place, 
and managed to keep the ladies from starv- 
ing. 

An old gentleman nearly fourscore years 
old, — whose only son was in the army and who 
had an invalid wife and several single daughters, 
nearly grown, — had to go to work in the field to 
get food for his family. He rented a tract of 
land that was very poorly fenced, and by his own 
labor, with some little assistance from small boys, 



304 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

sowed the land in wheat. The following sum- 
mer he harvested the wheat, with the assistance 
of a few boys and old men. When his crop was 
gathered the Federals came along and robbed 
him of almost all his toil. He had worked hard 
for the actual food of life, and the enemy reaped 
where he had sown. 

An old physician in our village, — who had four 
sons in the army and an equal number of grown 
daughters at home, dependent on his labors, — 
made his professional rounds on such old horses 
as he could pick up or as his patients could send 
for him, and often went on foot. I have seen 
this old doctor in the very hottest weather of 
summer hoeing and weeding a lot of sorghum, 
trying to raise the food for his family. 

A pastor of one of the two remaining churches 
worked his own garden, milked his only cow, 
and did all the menial work around his par- 
sonage. I saw him going to the gristmill with 
a small bag of corn on his back to have it ground 
and then bring it back as meal. He was the most 
heroic man of his profession I ever knew. His 
sermons were filled with the spirit of patriotism 
and yet of humble resignation, — ever encouraging 
his congregation to bear all things and trust to 
the will of God. These are only a few of the 
incidents I could relate. They are sufficient to 
show the conditions of the times and the spirit of 



THE SPRING OF 1865 305 

the people who were making every effort to meet 
them. 

One of the greatest hardships that our citizens 
had to bear was the complete interruption of all 
business relations. After the fall of 1862 every 
store and shop in the village was closed until 
after the war. Nothing could be had in the way 
of clothing, groceries, and household goods, ex- 
cept where purchases were made in other locali- 
ties. The courts of law seldom convened, all 
civil authority was practically suspended, our me- 
chanics and tradespeople had little to do, and the 
income from property and from business was cut 
off. The avenues of trade being closed, the 
wants of the people could not be met ; and every- 
one had to get along in the best way possible. 

This meant great hardship to many who had 
little money, and afforded no way of making a 
living by the usual methods of work. Our people 
learned by necessity to do without the most nec- 
essary articles of food and clothing, and lived in 
the simplest way. It is surprising how little one 
can live on when necessity reduces his wants to 
the simplest details. Just as Robinson Crusoe, on 
a lonely island learned the simplest problems of 
life, so our people, by force of circumstances, were 
reduced to a life of great simplicity. Yet in this 
life there was contentment and patient forbear- 
ance with the conditions that surrounded them. 



3o6 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

Although there were no military operations of 
any importance in the Valley of Virginia during 
the winter of 1864-65, a Federal garrison was kept 
at Winchester. As far as I can remember, how- 
ever, we never saw in our village a body of Fed- 
eral troops after the last of November. The Con- 
federate boys came home on furlough and were 
not disturbed during their visits. As poor as our 
people were in worldly goods they maintained a 
spirit of cheerfulness and of hope. The results of 
the war were still in a balance, and some still 
hoped for better success to the Southern cause 
when the spring opened. 

Our young people were still intent on having 
all the pleasure that would come their way; and 
though they had to do the greater part of the 
work of the home and of the farm, they found 
time for their social pleasures. Dances and par- 
ties were not infrequent and at these affairs the 
boys home from the army had their enjoyment. 
Love-making and weddings were still popular. 
There seemed to be nothing incompatible between 
love-making and soldiering. As a general rule 
the boys in the army had some girl on the string 
and were courting and marrying whenever the 
opportunity was favorable. I often wondered 
how men exposed to the dangers of war could as- 
sume the responsibilities of marriage; but the 
soldiers took these risks as they did those of bat- 



THE SPRING OF 1865 307 

tie, with the greatest composure; for few men 
ever expected to be killed in battle; they usually 
thought the other fellow would be hurt but not 
themselves. This was a fortunate delusion, for 
few men deeply impressed with a sense of dan- 
ger and fear of death will do their full duty on 
the firing-line, however faithful they may be in 
camp or on the march. 

During the winter and early spring months the 
army under Grant and the army under Lee were 
facing each other in the trenches of Petersburg. 
The forces under Grant had been recruited and 
enlarged while the army under Lee had suffered 
heavy losses by death and sickness, and had 
dwindled to less than 40,000 men. These men 
were poorly fed and clad but were still fired with 
courage and resolution. They were making a 
gallant stand against the odds that were facing 
them. As soon as weather conditions would per- 
mit Grant began his old tactics of moving on the 
flank. He began on Lee's right flank and forced 
Lee to extend his slim lines over greater distances. 
This movement soon forced Lee to evacuate 
Petersburg, and with the withdrawal from this 
place, the evacuation of Richmond was necessary. 
The prize the Federals had so long coveted fell 
into the hands of Grant, and the capital of the 
Confederacy was lost to the South. The Gov- 
ernment stores and papers were removed before 



3o8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

the evacuation, and Mr. Davis with his Cabinet 
and his office force, left for an interior place. 

Lee then retreated in the direction of Lynch- 
burg; and when he reached Appomattox Court 
House his small band of men was almost com- 
pletely surrounded by the Federal forces. On the 
9th of April Lee saw the uselessness of further 
resistance, and so he surrendered the Army of 
Northern V^irginia. His men were paroled and 
allowed to return to their homes. A few weeks 
later the army under General Joseph E. Johnston 
surrendered in North Carolina. With this final 
scene the War between the States came to an 
end. 

Four years of strife had completely exhausted 
the resources of the Confederacy, both in men and 
in money, and the drama was closed. The Gov- 
ernment that our people had fought to establish 
went down in disaster, and the Southern States 
were at the mercy of the Federal Government. 
Next came the period of reconstruction with all 
its calamities for our people. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE OLD FAMILY SERVANT 

There was something in the life of the old family 
servant that was peculiarly attractive to the 
child. Many a Southern boy and girl of my 
generation will recall the old negro "Mammie," 
as she was called, — her gentleness, patience, and 
faithfulness, her spirit of unselfishness and kind- 
ness, and her interest in the pleasures and 
enjoyments of our young lives. I can re- 
member my old nurse, — her songs and stories, 
her gentle care of my diet and clothes, her mild 
way of correcting my outbreaks of passion and 
temper and her ways of training my disposition 
and character. No mother could have been more 
considerate of my comfort and happiness than was 
this old negress. 

Then the old negro men on the farm were ever 
ready to contribute to the happiness of the boy. 
In fishing and hunting, in the breaking and rid- 
ing of the horse, in the harvesting and gathering 
of the crops the negro man was at all times sporty 
and full of spirit and life. He usually had a 
fund of anecdote and folklore which, told in his 

309 



310 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

negro dialect, produced a striking effect which 
gave keen enjoyment to himself and audience. 
Generally the negro had a most musical and in- 
spiring voice; and he not only sang sweetly but 
often played with pathos and skill on the violin, 
jew's-harp and bones. He was seldom morose or 
disagreeable but, to the contrary, had a joyfulness 
of spirit that removed the irksomeness of labor 
and added to the pleasures of his daily tasks. 

In the labor of the farm, of the house, or of the 
barn he was always the same light-hearted crea- 
ture, — full of merriment and gossip, often hum- 
ming in a monotone some old plantation melody. 
By nature a social being, — his best efforts are 
given in rivalry with other laborers. This was 
best shown in the harvest field, in the thrashing 
of wheat, and in the old-time corn-shucking par- 
ties. 

As our negroes had been emancipated the sys- 
tem of labor had now to be adjusted to meet the 
new conditions. Many of our negroes had not 
left their old homes and the great majority had 
behaved with such loyalty and consideration to- 
ward their old masters that a feeling of kindest 
respect was entertained for them. Only one of 
my father's negroes had left him. The older 
servants were as faithful and true as it was pos- 
sible for a people to be. In fact but for Uncle 
Lewis and Aunt Susan we would have had a very 



THE OLD FAMILY SERVANT 311 

hard time and I cannot recall the services of these 
old negroes without the tenderest emotions. 

A few days after the surrender, when we were 
assured that the war was over, my father called 
all of the servants together under a large tree in 
the yard and explained to them that under the 
order of the President of the L^nited States the 
negroes had been liberated and were now free to 
do as they pleased. He told them that he had 
no further control over them, that in future he 
would pay them for services such wages as would 
be established in the community, and that if they 
wished to remain in his employ they could do 
so as long as they desired; but that if any of 
them wished to find new homes, they were at 
liberty to make a change. He assured them of 
his friendly interest in them and of his desire to 
see them do well and be happy. He told them 
of the altered conditions that would surround 
them under freedom and urged them to cultivate 
habits of thrift and industry, which would make 
them useful citizens and self-respecting men and 
women. 

After he had finished his remarks, which he 
had made in a tone of deep emotion, Uncle Lewis 
stood up and tried to be the spokesman for his 
race. In his illiterate way, but with strong sense, 
he said he did not wish to be free, that all his 
life he had been a slave in my father's family, 



312 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

that he had always been treated with the great- 
est kindness by my grandfather and after his 
death by my father and that in his old age 
he did not want to be thrown on the world to 
make his own living and to be neglected by 
strangers. He then broke down in tears and wept 
copiously. 

My father told him that he need not fear, 
that as long as he lived he should have a home 
with us and would receive the same attention he 
had always received. The other negroes assented 
to what Lewis had said, but, as they were younger, 
it was not expected that they would wish to re- 
main indefinitely in our family. It was, how- 
ever, several years after the war before they all 
found new homes. Aunt Susan stayed with us 
some three years before she went to live in her 
own home. She had accumulated enough money 
to buy a neat little house in Front Royal, and 
b)^ taking in washing and doing light work she 
lived in comfort until she died. 

A few weeks after the incident mentioned above 
Uncle Lewis went to his room with an illness that 
soon led to his death. We waited on the old 
man and did all we could for his comfort, but he 
expressed a desire to die, for he said he was heart- 
broken and had nothing left to live for. 

When Uncle Lewis had passed away my father 
had him buried in the lot where for many years 



THE OLD FAMILY SERVANT 313 

his people had been buried. He had the faithful 
old friends assemble under the shade trees in 
the yard and a short service was held over the 
remains. My father and I accompanied the body 
to its last resting place, where Lewis now sleeps. 
I wept then, and the tears now come into my 
eyes as I write these words; for this good old 
negro had been one of the best friends of the days 
of my childhood and boyhood. He had taught 
me the early lessons of outdoor life, — how to 
ride, to load and shoot a gun, to hunt, and do 
many of the little things about the farm and 
home; he had entertained me by the hour in his 
room with stories and tales of his early life; he 
had told me many things about my grandfather, 
who died before I was born, and about other mem- 
bers of my family whom I had never seen, about 
the western country and the Valley in which we 
lived when he was a young man. This old man 
had a colored skin, but a white man's heart. I 
loved him dearly. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

REBUILDING THE WASTE PLACES 

The close of the war found our country almost 
a desert. Over 80 per cent of the personal prop- 
erty of our people had been swept away. Little 
was left but the land and the buildings on it, many 
of which had been so neglected during the four 
years of war that they were almost uninhabitable. 
Fences, barns, granaries, and the outbuildings on 
many of the farms were completely destroyed. 
Only two or three old mills were left in our 
county, and they were in a dilapidated condition. 
The farm lands had grown up in weeds and bushes 
and were scarcely fit for pasturage. A few old 
horses, cows, hogs, and sheep were left on some 
of the farms removed from the highroads. 
Farn^ng implements were almost worthless, and 
the tools used by the blacksmiths and mechanics 
were almost useless. With everything in this 
condition, and with little or no money to buy the 
necessary articles for industrial work, the prob- 
lem of rebuilding the waste places was a serious 
one. 

No sooner had peace been declared than our 
314 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 315 

people began the work of construction and of re- 
pair. Everyone with the physical strength be- 
gan to labor about the house and in the field. 
The boys who had been in the army came back 
and resumed their home duties. A few, who had 
been trained for mercantile life or clerical duties, 
left for other fields of employment in the cities 
or elsewhere. With the opening of the spring, the 
work of building fences and of planting crops be- 
gan in earnest, and was pushed with vigor and 
industry. The stores and shops in the village 
were opened and, with the credit extended by 
the merchants in Baltimore and some of the 
Northern cities, supplies were brought and the 
necessities of the people were provided for. 

The scarcity of labor was made up by the re- 
turn of the men who had been in the army and 
by the negro laborers who had not left their old 
homes. The farmers who had sown wheat the 
previous fall were fortunate in getting good prices 
for the wheat crop. This brought some ready 
money into the community. On many of the 
farms there was much good timber and this was 
cut and sold at good prices; and by the time the 
summer months had come our country began to 
assume a more prosperous appearance, and the 
wants of our people became less pressing. The 
young people soon began to resume their former 
pleasures. Picnics, dances, and other pastimes 



3i6 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

were resumed, and all entered into the enjoyment 
of a refined social life. 

About six miles from our village there was an 
old watering place which had been abandoned dur- 
ing the war. In some way it had escaped the fire- 
brand, and only suffered from the loss of windows 
and doors, and from the hands of idleness. It was 
admirably located for the pleasure of the young 
people. The young men and women from the 
country for miles around would meet at this old 
place and spend the day in dancing and merri- 
ment. They would come on horseback or in any 
old vehicle, and bring provisions for the midday 
meal. The floor of the ballroom was large and 
smooth, so that dancing was continued the entire 
day, and sometimes thirty or forty couples would 
be on the floor at one time. An old citizen with 
his violin made music and the old-time dances 
were stepped off as the fiddler called out the 
figures: "Dance to your partner; turn partner; 
salute partner; dismiss partner." 

A large lunch was spread for the company at 
midday and the dance was resumed until late in 
the afternoon, when the party broke up. The 
Virginia Reel wound up the dance for the day. 
No one enjoyed these dancing parties more than 
the boys who had been in the army. They were 
the heroes of the day and had the swing with the 
girls. I belonged to the juvenile set and took 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 317 

my chances for a partner with any of the girls 
that happened to be without an escort. One of 
the boys who entered into the spirit of these dances 
with a light heart and energetic soul was an old 
schoolmate of mine who had entered the army at 
the very outbreak of the war. He met with a 
wound in the second year of the war and lost one 
half of one foot. He was able to walk on his 
heel and no man ever made better use of a heel 
than he did. He was on the floor all the time and 
with his game foot could tire out the best dancers 
on the floor. I have never known anyone who 
equaled him in the love of the dance. He had a 
very sweet and musical voice and sang old Irish 
songs to perfection. He was very popular with 
the girls. 

We had a custom in those days of going 
to these parties in the country in a large wagon 
with the bed filled with straw. Four horses 
pulled the load and we often had twenty or thirty 
boys and girls in the wagon. This is what is now 
known as a straw ride. We did not give it that 
name in my boyhood days. It was a great source 
of pleasure and was an innocent sport. 

The summer of 1865 passed so pleasantly that 
it was soon gone. W^hen the fall months came a 
school was opened in the old Academy in our vil- 
lage by a young man who had been an officer in 
the army. He was well qualified for the work 



3i8 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

of the teacher and soon had a large school of boys 
and girls. In the class that assembled there were 
some ten or twelve boys who had been in the 
army, and were now eager to make up for lost 
time. Several of them had belonged to the class 
of the principal that had commanded the com- 
pany which went to Harper's Ferry on April 
20th, 1861, and who had risen to the rank of 
colonel of his regiment, and had been killed in 
front of Petersburg in 1864. These boys who 
had served from one to four years in the war were 
good students and progressed rapidly. Later in 
life some of them became distinguished citizens. 
During the fall we had several incidents to happen 
that brought sadness to many hearts. A number 
of the men in the army from our county had died 
away from home and had been buried among 
strangers in widely separated places. Several had 
found graves on battlefields. As soon as it was 
possible the friends and relatives of these men 
had their bodies brought home for burial. When 
their remains were brought back our school would 
close and all of our citizens would attend the re- 
interment of these bodies. In some cases these 
boys had been lost in battle or had died so far 
from friends that their bodies were never re- 
covered, and they now sleep in unknown graves, 
though their memories are still cherished by their 
loved ones. One of my old classmates was 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 319 

wounded and captured. He died in some Fed- 
eral prison, and his friends have never been able 
to learn his fate nor his last resting place. 

One of the first duties our good women un- 
dertook after the surrender was to organize a 
memorial association for the care and preservation 
of the bodies of the Confederate dead buried in 
our community. A large lot was secured near the 
place first selected for the Confederate dead and 
in this beautiful spot all the dead were brought 
together and placed in graves, marked with head- 
stones, with such information as was at command 
for their identification. 

The unknown dead were placed in a large cen- 
tral mound with a monument over them. This 
labor of love and devotion to the memory of 
those who had given up their lives for the 
Southern cause involved much sacrifice, for our 
people were poor in material wealth, though gen- 
erous and unselfish in heart. The work of car- 
ing for the dead was carried through a number of 
years and finally resulted in a beautiful memorial 
to the Confederate dead. 

I have mentioned in a previous chapter the bu- 
rial of Captain Laslie and Hugh Garth of the Sec- 
ond Virginia Cavalry, killed in September, 1864, 
near our village. I assisted in the removal of the 
remains of these bodies to the new cemetery after 
the close of the war, and they now sleep in marked 



320 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

graves near their comrades-in-arms. In this acre, 
consecrated to the men who perished in the war, 
over three hundred men sleep "on fame's eternal 
camping ground." 

While our citizens were collecting the bodies of 
the Confederate dead the Federal Government was 
engaged in the same work and some three hundred 
Federal dead in our county were removed to the 
National Cemetery at Winchester. These men 
were buried in many places, often in the neglected 
spots where they had fallen in battle. In a field 
adjoining my home nine men, killed in a charge. 
May 30th, 1862, were buried in one grave. A 
few weeks later a soldier belonging to an Ohio 
Regiment died in the home of one of our citizens 
and was buried in this lot. Some days later his 
friends came and removed his body and left the 
grave open with the coffin in it. About the same 
time a negro died in one of the camps and was 
buried in this open grave. This negro had on an 
old uniform of a Federal captain. When these 
bodies were removed to Winchester the body of 
the negro was marked "Federal captain. Name 
unknown." He rests now with the Federal dead 
in the National Cemetery. What is fame? 

The men employed by the Government to 
remove the dead were a cold-blooded set. I 
watched them open a number of graves, and when 
they found anything on the dead that was worth 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 321 

keeping they appropriated it to their own use. 
They invariably examined the teeth to see if any 
had gold fillings, and if such fillings were found, 
the teeth were removed and placed in the men's 
pockets. No gold was ever buried with the dead, 
if these ghouls could help it. 

These inhuman practices were the outgrowth 
of the war. These men, — now employed by the 
Federal Government to collect the bodies of the 
men who had lost their lives in service, — were 
members of the same army that had pillaged 
and robbed our people during the last two years 
of the war. As they could no longer rob the 
living they were robbing the remains of their 
dead comrades. I saw one of these men take a 
skull of one of these dead soldiers, and on examin- 
ing it he found some four or five of the teeth were 
filled with gold. He took a stone and deliber- 
ately knocked out these teeth and put them in his 
pocket, with the remark, "They are of no use to 
this dead man, and they are of some value to me." 

A Federal soldier had been buried in a field in 
front of my home. A depression in the ground 
marked his grave. I had often passed the place 
and thought it was a hog wallow. One of my 
boy associates had seen the man buried and called 
the attention of the grave-diggers to the spot. 
I was somewhat shocked at the way they asked for 
the information. We boys were watching the 



322 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

removal of some of the dead and one of the men, 
turning to us, asked if we knew where any more 
of these men were "planted." It was then that 
the boy called attention to the grave. I followed 
the grave-diggers and saw them open the grave. 
The man had been buried in a shallow grave with- 
out a coffin. When the earth was removed one 
of the diggers discovered a black silk handkerchief 
and pulled it from under the earth. He then 
shook off the dirt and held it up for inspection. It 
was in good condition, so he put it in his pocket. 
He next examined the teeth for gold fillings, but 
found none. The bones were collected and 
thrown into a small box for transportation to Win- 
chester. 

Those are but a few of the examples of civil 
war with its sad features of human suffering and 
death. I have often thought that many of the 
poor fellows who had given their lives in the civil 
strife, and were now sleeping in unknown graves, 
had sorrowing relatives at their homes, who were 
looking in vain for their return. 

I have estimated as carefully as I could that 
there were between five and six hundred Federal 
and Confederate soldiers buried in my county 
during the war. This loss is but trivial compared 
with the slaughter in many of the great battles of 
the war, where as many as ten thousand were left 
dead on the field. 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 323 

I have already asked the question, was this war 
worth what it cost in blood and treasure? From 
my point of view I have answered no. Those 
who differ with me must show wherein lies the 
profit. 

So long as the brutal instincts of man control 
the policies of countries and nations war may be 
a necessary evil, but if civilization cannot be 
maintained on higher grounds, then civilization is 
a failure, and all human rights are exposed to the 
evil passions of human nature. The great laws 
that control all forms of animal life in the strug- 
gle for existence dominate in a measure the spirit 
of man. The gradual uplift of the human race 
is the outcome of this struggle. Upon this theory 
alone is there any justification in war between kin- 
dred peoples and foreign nations. When civiliza- 
tion has reached a standard when all human con- 
tentions can be regulated by arbitration then we 
may hope for an era of peace and good will be- 
tween men. 

The evil passions engendered by the War be- 
tween the States should have ended at Appomat- 
tox. This was the hope of the people of the 
South. They had fought bravely for their Con- 
stitutional rights and had submitted this ques- 
tion to the arbitration of arms. The contest had 
been decided against them, and they were pre- 
pared to accept this decision in a patriotic way. 



324 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

The emancipation of the negro was accepted in 
the same spirit; but the people who fully under- 
stood the nature and character of the negro ex- 
pected that a domestic question of such importance 
to the negro and to the white race in the South 
would be referred largely to the latter to adjust. 
It was not believed when the war was first closed 
that a policy of reconstruction would be enforced 
by the Federal Government with harshness and 
barbarity, that a proud and high-spirited people 
would be subjected to such humiliation, and would 
have to contend with an ignorant and servile 
race, — a race totally unfit for the duties of citizen- 
ship, — for its principles of domestic government. 

It is not my wish to revive the memories of 
reconstruction. That chapter of American history 
had best be forgotten by the men of my genera- 
tion, and those who have come since the war are 
better off without a knowledge of that period, — a 
period that the historian can only view as a dis- 
grace to a government which gave assent to it. 

If the War between the States was justifiable, 
then any civil war, conducted on the same basis, 
wrll be equally justifiable. If war is the only 
protest a people can make against arbitrary power, 
then war will be inevitable in the nature of things. 

The Civil War brought great wealth and 
political power to the North and Northwest. It 
built up an aristocracy of wealth and political 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 325 

power that has dominated the nation for the last 
fifty years. It has made the few rich at the ex- 
pense of the great mass of the people. It has 
been worth to the North all it cost in blood and 
treasure, but it has made a wage service as op- 
pressive as slavery was to the negro in the South. 
While the laborer has been paid for his labor, 
he has grown restless and dissatisfied with his 
wages. Labor Unions have grown in numbers 
and in strength. They have become more and 
more outspoken in their demands, and they 
threaten to involve this country in greater em- 
barrassment than the negro ever caused. The out- 
come of these conditions no man can foresee. 
All will depend upon the spirit of justice and fair 
play that the Government and public opinion will 
exercise in arbitrating differences and in adjusting 
balances. 

These disturbances between labor and capital 
have been confined almost entirely to the Northern 
States, — to the people who have profited by the 
results of the war. The South has so far been 
comparatively free from labor contentions, for the 
reason that the negro labor of the South has been 
regulated by a domestic situation that does not 
exist where white labor is almost exclusively em- 
ployed. 

I have brought my story down to the winter 
of 1865. I will leave it here, with the hope that 



326 THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS 

it has presented a view of the war from a point 
not usually taken by the historian. Many of the 
facts are seen from the standpoint of a boy, others 
are viewed from the standpoint of a matured man, 
who has lived long after the events, and whose 
opinions are no doubt biased by contemporary ob- 
servations and experiences. The author believes 
that the time has come when the people of the 
South should try to forget and forgive the rough 
usages of the war and take hold of the larger 
views that will strengthen and ennoble the life 
and influence of our nation. 

I 

The soldier's tent is pitched at last 
On camping ground across the stream, 
Where war's fierce cry and bugle blast 
No more disturb his peaceful dream. 

II 

The musket's crash and cannon's roar 
That raised his martial spirits high, 
In vain their music peals may pour 
Where his immortal ashes lie. 

Ill 

The call to arms at early morn, 
The evening "taps" at close of day 
Fall silent from the bugler's horn 
When death has reaped its final pay. 



REBUILDING WASTE PLACES 327 

IV 

'Neath many a moldering heap of earth 
On fields of carnage stained with blood 
They honor those who gave them birth, — 
Proud offspring of their parenthood. 

V 

No costly urn their ashes hold; 
In nameless graves they often sleep ; 
Their deeds of valor where'er told 
In loving hearts will ever keep. 

VI 

In duty's paths they firmly trod, 
Obedient to their holy trust ; 
Believing in Almighty God, 
The Cause they loved to them was just. 

VII 

From Sumter's fire and final fall 
To Appomattox's end in peace 
They gave their best — it was their all ; 
The time had come for war to cease. 

VIII 

If truth be truth, if truth be right, 
Truth and untruth can ne'er agree. 
To flee from darkness to the light 
Is all the cost of liberty. 

THE END 



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